One Piece : The Lottery Lottery Fruit
by evelsaint93
Summary: Who in their right mind would gamble their power devil fruit power based on a lottery? Monkey D. Luffy did. It is said that crazy people have crazy luck. You have the Paramecia, the Zoan, the Logia, and the Mythical Zoan. Enter the long forgotten fruit.
1. Chapter 1: Romance Dawn

**One Piece: The Lottery Lottery Fruit!**

**

* * *

**

_ Who in their right mind would gamble their power devil fruit power based on a lottery? Monkey D. Luffy did. It is said that crazy people have crazy luck. __You have the Paramecia, the Zoan, the Logia, and the Mythical Zoan. __Enter the long forgotten fruit. The Deity Deity Fruit : Model **Xxxxxxx**_

_

* * *

Prologue: Romance Dawns_

A young boy held a dagger up, teeth grit together with determination. No one panicked at the sight of a young boy perched precariously on the rails of a swaying ship.

"I WILL BE THE ONE TO CONQUER THE SEA! I WILL BE GREATER THAN EVEN THE PIRATE KING!"

The crowd that gathered laughed in response. One of them spoke up.

"Oi! What are you up to now Luffy?"

Monkey D. Luffy waved his dagger around, "I'm going to show you all how tough I can be! Then you'll take me along for your voyage!"

Then he promptly stabbed himself right below the eye.

"YOU IDIOT!" The entire crew screamed.

* * *

They were now in a tavern.

"That didn't hurt at all." Luffy said, eyes watering. Everyone could tell that Luffy was barely holding back the pain. Stabbing a knife right below your eye might do that. Not only would there be a flesh wound but the feeling of knife scraping bone hurt like dickens.

Red-Haired Shanks flicked Luffy on the forehead.

"I'm still not taking you along with us. The sea is not a place for a kid to be. Besides, what do you know about being a pirate anyway?"

Luffy's eyes lit up with excitement. "But as a pirate, you can find treasures and see the mysteries of the sea! Also you can do what ever you want! Why not be a pirate?"

Shanks shoveled the fried rice into his mouth at a ferocious rate. "Uh-huh. Marines get to sail the seas too. Why not join the marines?"

Luffy scrunched up his face. "Ewww. Marines have to follow the rules and all that stuff. I don't want to turn out like Gramps."

Shanks thought about it for a moment. "Well, if you can swim ten laps around my ship, I'll think about it."

"No problem, I've been learning how to swim for quite a while now! Ten laps is easy stuff! Also my punch is like a pistol." He pumped his arm out in enthusiasm, pretending he was knocking out one of the seven warlords.

Shanks flicked some left over peas at Luffy. "Oh really?"

He pointed at Shanks and made an indignant face. "You're just jerking my chain aren't you!"

A strong voice spoke out. "The Captain is just trying to look out for everybody. He knows fully how dangerous the sea could be. It can kill you in a thousand ways you know."

Luffy turned to the man who was lighting his cigar. "Oh. Mr. First Mate. I can swim though."

Ben Beckman took a drag, "Can you kill?" he murmured quietly.

Luffy froze. "Kill?"

The first mate looked past Luffy with tired eyes. "Sometimes to protect your nakama and those who are precious to you, One cannot avoid killing."

"But why can't I just beat them up? That works too right?" Luffy stammered.

There was no answer to that question.

The doors to the Tavern slammed open, the room became silent at the sudden intrusion.

A tall lanky thug swaggered in, followed by a group of men.

Mountain bandits.

Luffy shrugged and turned back to his food. Pirates were more badass than bandits. To his dismay, his plate was already empty. Shanks must've swiped his steak when he turned around. In turn, Luffy took a peek at Shanks plate, It was also empty.

However, Next to Shanks was a small chest. Treasure?

While the Mountain bandit Higamu or Higuma, whatever -his-face, caused a ruckus, Luffy opened the chest and found a ... Fruit? It was a violet purple fruit with swirls. Some of the swirls curved to form question marks which patterned the fruit.

Ignoring the obviously strange appearance. Luffy chomped down on it anyway. It could be an exotic fruit from somewhere. Luffy was never the one to pass eating new food.

It felt like a bomb went of in his head. There were images of fruits flashing rapidly in his head. All of them an odd shade of purple, decorated by weird swirls like the one he just ate. There were tens, hundreds of fruits flashing before his eyes. There was a building pressure behind his skull. Was this mystery fruit a poison fruit? Was he going to die? He panicked.

No! Not before he could become the king of Pirates and rule over the Sea!

As if influenced by his resolve, the fruits slowly cycled until it stopped on one odd fruit.

This fruit was different. It was deep blue like the ocean, the swirls gently shaped to imitate churning waves. The fruit started glowing, washing over him in blue light, and then darkness.

* * *

Shanks picked himself up from the ground, his crew laughing at his misfortune. The mountain bandits had left after getting bored of picking on him. If he could, he would rather avoid showing the darker aspect of piracy to Luffy and the town. After the mockery, he thought Luffy would've spoke up. It was oddly quiet. Kicking aside the broken glass, Shanks turned to Luffy.

Shanks felt his stomach plummet when he saw the empty chest. It couldn't be.

Luffy was slumped across the table, a half eaten devil fruit next to him where it fell from his slack grip.

Shanks grabbed him and shook him roughly. "Luffy. Wake up! Please don't tell me you ate that fruit!"

"Mhmm. It taste really bad and then my head started hurting funny." Luffy mumbled from the counter.

"YOU IDIOT! THAT WAS THE LOTTERY LOTTERY FRUIT! IT'S ONE OF THE SECRET TREASURES OF THE SEA! AFTER YOU EAT IT, YOU'LL GET A RANDOM DEVIL FRUIT POWER BUT YOU'LL NEVER SWIM AGAIN!"

Luffy sat up straight with eyes popping. "WHAAATTTT!" He howled.

Shanks smacked him over the head. "YOU IDIOT!"

* * *

"Is it this one?" Shanks pointed at the picture of the Gumo-Gumo fruit.

Luffy sighed. "No."

"This one?"

The Yami-Yami fruit.

"No"

"This one?"

The Mera-Mera fruit.

"Nope."

Shanks closed the encyclopedia of Devil fruits. "What you ate was the Lottery Lottery fruit. Basically the fruit acts as a Lottery and chooses a fruit for you. It gives you the power of a random fruit that no one has yet. So if someone ate the Mera-Mera fruit, that lottery will skip over that fruit."

Luffy picked his nose. "So what?"

Shanks smacked him over the head. "So that means that you've got the powers of a unknown fruit. This encyclopedia only has records of known devil fruits. It could be possible that it's a totally new fruit or just uncommon."

He cracked a wide smile. "Cool! I got a new power that no one has!"

"Well, your powers will develop sooner or later. Just be sure to get a grip on it. You wouldn't want your powers going out of control would you?"

* * *

"Take that back! SHANKS ISN'T A COWARD!"

Higuma the Bear, with a 8 Million Berri bounty on his head, pinned the struggling boy under his foot. "That sea swagger captain was a joke. I'll let you off if you say 'Pirates are cowardly fools.'"

"BANDITS EAT COW DUNG!"

Higuma's face twisted into a ugly sneer. "Brats like you don't deserve to live, I've killed 56 people who pissed me off and now you're going to be number 57." He lifted his foot up brought it straight down to crush Luffy's skull to a pulp. Luffy threw out his hands and scrunched his eyes close. Right before Higuma could make contact with Luffy's head, his foot made contact with something hard that was definitely not bone. When foot meets metal, there's only one thing to do.

"F$%#$^#K!"

An obsidian black shield materialized out of thin air into Luffy's hands. It wasn't a run off the mill type of shield. The black surface showed no scratches or wear. In the center was a wide blue circle the size of a palm. Luffy stared at the shield in his hand in amazement. The blue center of the shield reflected light like smooth glass yet it swirled as if the ocean were straining at him behind a glass barrier. The shield itself was an octagon, shaped by eight sides. On the front portion were strange arcane symbols but etched along the back of the Black obsidian part were the letters.

_Yata no Kagami (The Eight Span Mirror) _

Higuma raged over the pain in his foot. It felt like the force of his blow rebounded from the shield back to his foot. He sneered and pulled out his gun, "Let's see if that fancy shield of yours could fight bullets!" Luffy hunched himself into a small ball and took cover behind his shield just as the tell tale sound of a pistol firing started. Behind the cover of his shield, Luffy frowned when nothing happened. There was no recoil from holding the shield, did the bandit miss? On the other side, the bandit gaped at the shield. His aim was accurate, the three shots he had shot in succession had most definitely hit the shield. The only problem was, the moment it contacted the shield, the bullets stopped on its own accord and dropped to the ground.

A chillingly cold voice interrupted the stunned silence. "What's this? The moment I come back, I see some low life bandit shooting my friend?"

Shanks and his crew were back and they were not happy.

One of the mountain bandit lackey laughed and pointed his pistol at Shanks. "Ya sad wimp, I'mma blow ya head off right now if ya take un' step closer."

Shanks pointed at the gun. "It's not safe to point guns you know. It means you're putting your life in danger."

There was splat as the lackey's brain graced itself on the floor. Even Luffy seemed stunned by the gruesome display. Lucky Roo had somehow advanced without anyone's notice and blasted the bandit's head off. This was all while he was chomping down on a piece of meat.

"That wasn't fair you bastard!"

This time it was the first mate who spoke up. "Fair? You aren't dealing with saints here. We're pirates. And we don't play by the rules."

Ben Beckman took one last drag and tilted his flintlock rifle so he gripped it like a club. "I got this Capt'n." he said cooly.

The enraged mountain bandits rushed at Beckman only to meet a sad fate. The first bandit blinked in surprise and then felt the sizzling pain of a lit cigarette burning it's way into his right eye, effectively blinding his eye for life. The butt of the riffle that followed dropped him into blissful darkness. Beckman spared no mercy when it came to crippling the bandits. Broken knee caps and smashed skulls were commonplace, if any of them escapes or survives, their life of banditry would be over.

The fallen and broken bodies of his gang filled Higuma with awe and dread. He knew if he didn't leave soon, he would join them on the floor.

Higuma found himself backtracking to justify himself. "This brat started it! Let me go please!"

Shanks shrugged. "There's a price on your head, I think I'll buy me some grog with it."

"FUCK YOU ALL" he shouted and threw down a smoke bomb to obscure the crews vision, he grabbed Luffy by the scruff of the neck and took off to the harbor.

After the smoke screen cleared, Shanks fell into a panic at the sight of the missing Luffy. Beckman tapped Shanks on the shoulder. "Knowing scums like him, there's only one place he would go..."

* * *

Luffy peered over at the side of the dinghy. He was a fairly good swimmer but after eating the fruit, he was suppose to sink like a hammer in water. Higuma reared his leg back to give Luffy a good punt to the backside. Somehow he saw the image of the kick coming in his head and turned around just in time to block with his shield.

"F$%#$^#K!" Higuma shouted as he heard and felt his toes crunch. Luffy's laughter died when a giant shadow loomed over the boat. It was the Local Sea Monster.

It was a huge eel like fish with mouth filled with foot long teeth. It's gaping maw descended down upon them just as he felt himself being jerked away by the collar and flung away in the ocean. Through the spinning vertigo, he caught sight of Shanks looking at him in relief just as he too was swallowed up by the Sea monster.

Luffy hit the water with a splash and fell about five feet down. Pushing his feet and scrabbling his hands, he tried swimming desperately to the surface.

The odd thing was it worked. He swam his way back up to the surface only to see scraps of floating wood and the red dye of blood in the water. His mind froze.

Shanks was dead.

Dead.

And it was his fault. He did it.

That sea monster.

Fault.

Dead.

Luffy's eyes narrowed into pinpoints as he glared at the sea monster and screamed in anguish and unrestrained anger. "_SHAAANNKKSS!_"

The sea monster eyed the young boy, intending to feast on another morsel when the wave of utter dominance overtook it's senses. His animal instincts were telling him to run and swim away because he was going to die ... diie ... d-ii-eee.

Under the strong burst of haki, the Sea monster keeled over to the side and died. It's brain lacked the will power or mental fortitude to fend of the crushing haki it felt. After the Sea monster kicked the bucket, Shanks cut his way out of the overgrown Eel's belly and swam frantically underwater to find Luffy. Shanks had banked on cutting his way out of the Sea Monster's belly and then diving to rescue Luffy who would've sank down into the depths like a hammer. Oddly enough he couldn't see Luffy's drowning body anywhere.

He looked up and choked in surprise when he saw the familiar sight of a seven year old treading water. A seven year old who ate the devil's fruit.

Gagging, he swam his way back up to the top. Luffy was bawling at the thought of Shanks' sacrifice. When he opened his eyes and saw a waterlogged Shanks, covered in Sea Monster intestines and blood, he did the natural thing.

He fainted dead away at the thought of Shanks' zombie coming back to life to haunt him.

Shanks blinked and dragged the unconscious Luffy back to shore. The grilling would have to wait until he wakes up.

Unnoticed by Shanks, the Obsidian shield floated on the waves, floating innocuously behind Luffy, back to the shore.

It was as Luffy would call it when he woke up.

A mystery shield.

* * *

_A/N: Possibly my longest prologue ever. There are many major changes to the beginning. I'm sure many of you can piece together the clues I put in to derive which deity I'm talking about._

_The Japanese name would be Kami-Kami no Mi. The God-God Fruit. That would be somewhat misleading._

_In Japanese culture, kami is usually in reference to a deity._

_Wiki translation._

_"A **deity** is a postulated preternatural or supernatural beings, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers, often religiously referred to as a **god**._

_Deities are depicted in a variety of forms, but are also frequently expressed as having human or animal form. They are commonly assumed to have personalities and to possess consciousness, intellects, desires, and emotions similar to those of humans. Such natural phenomena as lightning, floods, storms, other 'acts of God', and miracles are attributed to them."_

_This devil fruit is my idea! Any attempts to rip it off me will have to be asked first._

_Lottery Lottery Fruit._

_Deity Deity Fruit._

_All ideas are my own, Also thanks to Oda sensei for the great work._

_Special thanks to **notable OP writers** who have inspired me to write my own story._

**Dorlath** - Naruto the Marine

******Wolvenstrom** - Logia Luffy : Yami Yami edition

**Thanathos** - Crimson Sea

**************Confession68** - Charmed

**********Phalanx** - Though A Bird Can't Fly, Doesn't Mean It Never Will

******Houkaru Kisaragi** - Paradox of the Unorthodox Spy

**********Sorakage sama**- Stupid Pirate tricks

**Emma Iveli** - The Biju Biju Fruit

******Amethyst Turtle** - 30 flavors of Mellorine

**************NeonZangetsu** - Bashful

**Skriblerier** - Existence

******Blue-grey-purple-brown** - The might Captain Usoop's wonderful journey

******Sexybitchxoxoxo** - Adventure of a Lifetime

**Englishwitch** - One Piece turnabout series

**KennyG** - One Piece My Version

**********Ai Tennshi** - Deeper than the Sea

**Telebee** - Take by Storm

******Kasek** - The devil fruit

_Thank you all for your great work._

_I hope you all support me in my endeavor to write a good OP adventure Fanfiction story!_

_As we go along I will have a SBS corner of my own! Those of you who have questions will be selected to have them answered by EvelSaint-sensei!_

_If you want start asking away!_

_Ciao~_


	2. Chapter 2: They call him StrawHat Luffy

**One Piece: The Lottery Lottery Fruit!**

* * *

_Who in their right mind would gamble their power devil fruit power based on a lottery? Monkey D. Luffy did. It is said that crazy people have crazy luck. You have the Paramecia, the Zoan, the Logia, and the Mythical Zoan. Enter the long forgotten fruit. The Deity Deity Fruit : Model __**Xxxxxxx**_

_**

* * *

**_

_Chapter 1 : They call him StrawHat Luffy_

Time is elusive. Has ten years really gone by so quickly?

Ten years ago, Shanks entrusted his Strawhat to him, making a promise to meet up again he became a great pirate. Ever since that day, he had been training until he coughed out blood, just for this moment.

"IT'S TIME TO RULE THE SEAS!" He yelled out, throwing both of his hands up in a Banzai cheer. He set off under the cheers of his fellow villagers. Makino, and even the Mayor was there to send him off. All he had at the moment was a small dinghy and a barrel of provisions but it was a start. It was time to keep his promise to Ace, to Sabo.

"Here comes the future ruler of the seas! StrawHat Luffy!"

Perched on his head, was his greatest treasure, his pride and his promise.

* * *

Luffy tilted his frayed Straw hat, blocking the bountiful rays of sun. It was a good day to set out to sea. He had already waited ten long years, Ace beat him by three years and sailed off earlier. The last he heard of him, He was captain of his own Pirate crew, The Spade pirates. Now it was his turn to form his own crew. About ten people seemed right.

He ticked off his fingers. "Let's see... hmmm."

"We need a cook, a musician, another cook, another singer, a first-mate cook?, a dancer, uh..."

He took a look at the giant whirlpool that was threatened to dragged him and his small dinghy to the depths.

"Maybe I should add in a navigator too ... nah, another Cook."

To most people, a giant whirlpool would've sent them into a panic and even the calmest monk would break a sweat. However, Luffy wasn't concerned at all.

And why?

Because it was time for a nap.

Crazy people have crazy luck.

* * *

There were times when life play funny tricks on you.

Coby liked to call it karma. It had to be. He must have done something horrible in his past life in order to warrant such a fate. How else would he have been cursed to become a cabin boy for the fattest and ugliest woman in the world? His sad story began two years ago when he jumped onto a ship to go fishing. Much to his horror, the ship belong to Lady Alvida, the "fairest" throughout all the seas. Which brings us back to the present with Coby polishing her shoes.

Lady Alvida can be described in three words.

Crazy Fat Hoe.

Crazy? Apparently, she had the notion that she had the perfect figure, her face devoid of pimples, and her skin flawless. In reality, She looked like a miniature killer whale with too many spots on her face. There was another reason why the world Hoe had been added in. The Crazy fat hoe carried around a fricken' huge iron mace. One wrong look, one wrong comment, one speck of dust on her ship, and say hello to Mr. Mace. Coby liked to believe that he had survived two years due to his cunning and fast thinking brain, But the harsh truth was he was a coward who lick the dirt of her shoe if she asked.

It was a day like any other for Coby. But wait! Could it be? YES IT WAS!

A FLOATING BARREL!

Floating barrels are good, Coby learned that through experience. Usually most barrels that float signify that the container was sealed properly. Chances were, the barrel contained some provisions that were washed overboard, maybe some dried meat jerky or even sake! A/N:_ Japanese alcoholic beverage made from rice. Sake and Grog will have the same meaning._

Alvida gave but the smallest of scraps to him, meaning it was enough to keep him alive but his body was severely lacking in any proper protein and vitamins. The only reason why his teeth weren't falling out from scurvy like the rest of the crew was because he sold whatever he could find in the barrels and used that money to buy limes. Also whenever Alvida attacked a merchant ship or any other sailing vessel, Coby would rush to find the kitchen so he could steal some food and get his intake of lime juice. Stealing treasure or money was too noticeable and Alvida made no one looted anything beside's her.

Coby rolled the heavy barrel into the storage shack, it was pretty heavy. A snide voice spoke up, "Why Coby, What have you got there? Is that a Barrel of Rum I've see you found?"

Coby gulped and turned to see the three stooges. They were the rough and ugly type, despicable cut throat pirates. Rumor was, those three got the title of the three stooges by somehow ... well ... What word would describe the bravery and the amount of disgust it took to actually bang a mini-killer whale? Coby flinched and drew back when they surrounded him. "Yo. Coby. You ain't see nothing right?" Their putrid breathe washed over him. He sincerely hoped that their breathe was naturally that bad and not the scent of Alvida's P$$^y. Coby barfed a little in the back of his throat at the thought.

Weakly, he said, "I didn't see nothing."

A double negative.

Of course the dumb Neanderthals didn't catch it. Much to all of their surprise, the barrel lid sprang open and a young teen popped out. "What a great nap!"

WHAT THE DEVIL?

While the three stooges wondered where the rum went, Coby was wondering how anyone could have survived being tossed around in the boundless ocean in an airtight container.

"SLACKING OFF YOU SCURVY DOGS?" The tell tale sign of a shrill banshee and the sound of a spinning club set off all four of their ingrained survival instincts. Out of habit more than anything, they all dropped to the floor, allowing the spinning club to smash the shacks into wooden debris and sent the new arrival rolling down the hill. Coby gathered his wits and ran after the barrel.

It was safer that way.

* * *

He raised his hands in the typical Luffy greeting. "My name's Luffy! Where am I?"

Coby stuttered, not knowing what to make of the new arrival. "You're on an island Iron mace Alvida uses as a hideout. I'm Coby, her cabin-boy."

Luffy nodded sagely. "I see ... well none of that matters to me."

Coby didn't what to say. The young teen before him was oddly dressed, a red vest and blue shorts that frayed at the knee. The straw hat on his head added to the country look but the bracer he had on was totally out of place. It was a hard to describe his bracer. It was a big blue glass circle that covered the back of the hand. It glowed a deep sea blue, shining and pulsating, as if it were alive.

"Do you happen to have a dinghy? Mine got crushed by the giant whirlpool."

Coby gaped.

What crazy luck ...

"I have one. Um... Kinda. Follow me."

Coby led Luffy deeper into the forest where his masterpiece was. It took him two years of hard work and many saved up barrels but it was worth it, It was his own dinghy.

Luffy looked at what appeared to be planks of woods held together by nails. "Huh? What is this? A coffin?"

Coby cried weakly,"No ... it's my escape boat, it took me two years to build."

Luffy was straight forward. "It took you two years to build an escape boat and you didn't escape yet?"

"I WISH I COULD! JUST THINKING ABOUT ALVIDA MAKES MY BLADDER GO WEAK AND I WANT TO PUKE." Coby shouted. "I went fishing one day and got on the wrong ship, now I'm Alvida's cabin boy!"

Luffy laughed, "Wow, you are dumb. You must've done something bad in your past life. it's conned ya you know."

Coby sweat dropped. "You mean karma?"

Luffy picked his nose. "No, My gramps say if you do something bad, conned ya will get you cause life is going to play a trick on you."

"So how did you end up floating in a barrel anyway?" Coby questioned. Luffy smiled widely, all his teeth showing. "Heeeheehe, I'm going to be Pirate King!"

"A..a..c..Ack. P...P ... Pirate King?" Coby choked out, jaw dropping at the thought of it.

"Uh-huh. Pirate King"

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"So Luffy-san is a pirate?"

"Ah."

"Your Nakama?"

"Don't have any yet. Do you sing?"

Coby stumbled over the sudden question. "uh... no? Why?"

"Cause I need a musician. Pirate sing and have fun right? Got to get one." Coby choked at the sight of Luffy's laid back attitude. Did he seriously think he could become the Pirate King without any crewmates, or ship?

Coby shook his head in denial. "No way." Luffy frowned, "Why not?" he said. "Because the Pirate King is someone who has everything in the world. Wealth Fame, and Power consolidated into one person. Meaning you're after the 'One Piece' in the golden age of piracy! It's sucidal, every Pirate in the world is out looking for it!" Luffy cut in with a pout. "Well, so am I."

"It can't be done, you'll die before you find it." Coby mumbled in a low voice.

Luffy grabbed both of Coby's shivering shoulders and looked him in the eye. "Coby. A man is not a man without a dream. Even if I die trying, It's better than not following my dream. Everyone has a dream, all you need is the grit, the ambition to realize it. Don't you have a dream?"

Coby was awed by Luffy's passionate speech. There was nothing but determination and ambition etched into Luffy's eye. Inside his guts, Coby felt it, he actually believed Luffy could become the Pirate King. Licking his dry lips, he stuttered, "I-I do have a d-dream..."

"Louder Coby! Where's your willpower? Show me some guts and shout it to the world." Luffy encouraged.

Coby opened his mouth side and shouted on the top of his lungs. "I WANT TO BE A MARINE AND TO UPHOLD 'JUSTICE'!"

Luffy slapped him proudly on the back. "There you go, Now follow your dream. You took the first step and realized that this is what you want!"

Coby found a new strength within. "I can do it, I'm going to join the Marine or die trying, then I'll arrest Alvida and-"

A Iron Mace smashed down in front of his face, destroying his dinghy, two years of hard work. "Just who are you going to arrest Coby?", Alivda growled. Coby felt his bladder weaken before bringing up the memory of his dream. Almost immediately Coby felt his resolve settle. Luffy being Luffy, pointed at Alvida and asked, "Who is this tough looking old biddy?"

Coby grinned. "She's the ugliest and fattest bitch throughout the Seas, Killer Whale Alvida."

Luffy burst out laughing, "Killer whale, that's a good one."

Alvida saw red. "I don't care if you're Roronoa Zoro, or Kami himself, Die you little brats!" She swung a 100Kg metal mace down with all her might, intending to crush both Luffy and Coby in one blow. Luffy pushed Coby back and grinned. "You did a good job Coby, I'll take over now." Coby watched in horror as the Mace descended upon them. Luffy was guarding, bending his left hand as if he were guarding his face with an invisible shield.

Silence. Popping eyes. Hanging jaws.

The mace stopped when it made contact with the back of Luffy's hand. Despite the weight difference and the force behind the blow, Luffy's hand was not pushed back a single centimeter. All they could see was his wide smile, his eyes hidden underneath his straw hat. All of the sudden, he didn't look like a country bumpkin anymore. There was a mysterious aura around the teen that sent chills running down their spines.

"W-W-What the h-hells going on?"

"Heeheehe" Luffy grinned. "You can't beat me. Why don't you try your own attack for a size?" Pushing aside the metal club, Luffy drew his hand back and swung his arm out, intending to backhand Alvida in the face. This was the tricky part.

Luffy's _Yata no Kagami _was tricky to use. Despite it's somewhat misleading name, the Eight Span mirror was more like a shield. According to the legends, The Eight Span mirror was suppose to be capable of reflecting any attack._* This is actually dependent upon the user._

The first time Luffy used the shield to protect himself from the bullets, the shield mirrored the amount of force being applied to the bullet. What happens in the end is the two equal forces cancel each other out and the bullet drops harmlessly to the ground while the shield received no damage. This time Luffy did something differently. Throughout the years of using his mirror, one trick he developed was to only use the core of the shield.

The obsidian black part was somehow retractable and it slid into the blue core. In terms of space, there was no way it could have physically fit.

A mystery shield indeed.

Luffy was using his second trick now. First he would absorb the force behind the attack and then store it into the core of the shield. When he attacks with the shield, he would have to make contact with the enemy, and then release the stored up power. The timing had to be very precise, otherwise the attack would dissipate into thin air.

The attack connected beautifully. His backhand release impacted Alvida right in the face, the force of her own blow threw her back and sent her flying into the air and over the island before falling into the ocean.

Coby gaped in awe, What was this strength that Luffy had? He sent Alvida flying with one blow!

For most people who did not know about his shield's ability, most would come to the conclusion that his backhand had sent Alvida flying. By adding his own power, he can amplify the power stored within the shield which resulted in a devastating attack.

"Oi! Give Coby a dinghy, He's going to join the Marines."

"Yessir!" they shouted as they hurried off to prepare the boat. The rest of the pirate crew was more than glad to part with their dinghy. Luffy jumped in with an easy smile. "C'mon Coby, Lets go." For the first time in a long while, Coby smiled a true smile and ran after Luffy who carried the boat over his head as he ran to the shore.

Friendship is a beautiful thing.

* * *

"So you're headed for the grand line? I hear it's a pirates graveyard..." Coby still lacked confidence even though it was a major improvement from the past. Just thinking about the grand line made him break out into goosebumps. Luffy pointed at Coby, "Say, that Roronoa Zoro guy. He's imprisoned at the marine base somewhere?"

"Yeah. Why do you ask?"

Luffy shrugged. "He sounds pretty weak to me if he got caught by the marines." Coby gasped, "No way! He's a demonic beast! Luffy-san, you should stay away from him. he's called the 'Pirate Hunter' for a reason. They say he wanders the sea and hunt down fugitives."

"Then he's strong. If he's a good guy. I'll recruit him as my nakama."

"WHAT! NO WAY LUFFY-SAN! It's a bad idea!" Luffy pulled out a dried squid and smacked Coby across the face with it before chewing on it. "Calm down. I'm still deciding whether to let him join or not. If he's a good guy... I'll let him join." Coby rubbed his face, "He's obviously a bad guy if he got arrested!"

Luffy threw back his head and laughed. "Well I'm a pirate, so I'm a bad guy too! Wait! I'm a good guy though! But pirates are 'bad guys'. So I'm a good 'bad guy'? He frowned and massaged his temples. "Ugh my brain hurts from thinking about it. That's it, I'm a mystery guy"

Coby let out a nervous chuckle.

Luffy will become the Pirate King ... maybe...

* * *

**_Omake_**

_The Lottery Lottery Fruit : Kagu Kagu no mi_

_The Sniff Sniff fruit_

_The lottery stopped on an abstract fruit, there was an odd purple smoke coming from the porous purple exterior._

_Ten years later_

_Luffy pushed Coby back behind him. "Good job Coby, I'll take it over from here." _

_Coby looked in horror as the iron mace tore through Luffy's body._

_NOOOO!_

_Luffy's dismembered pieces swirled with blue smoke before reforming his body. He was grinning._

_Everyone was shocked, the boy should have been crushed to a pulp but his body turned to smoke and reformed. Alvida swung at his head, leaving him headless. But it reformed with a frown. "Just because I can't die doesn't mean I like it you know."_

_Alvida growled. "You ate the devil fruit didn't you!"_

_Luffy grinned widely. "Yup, it's the kagu kagu no mi, Logia type. I'm a Sniff Sniff man!"_

_Luffy took a horse stance and clapped both hands together, eyes closed in concentration._

_Everyone but Alvida ran off, not wanting to see what sort of attack he would come up with._

_Luffy let out a primal howl. "SHOCKWAVE FLATULENCE!" There was a hidden flap at the seat of his blue shorts and it was there for a good reason. The following expulsion of gas would have surely blown a hole in his pants._

_A vile purple smoke hung heavily in the air._

_Luffy stood back up and grinned._

_"With my powers, I can create a gas that smells so bad, one sniff would be enough to knock you out. NOW TAKE A SNIFF OF THIS!"_

_Tendrils of purple gas twisted almost lifelike as they took up the shape of a purple Luffy, evilly laughing. They streamed towards her and went up her nostrils._

_Alvida fainted while retching._

_Luffy frowned._

_Who knew that one could die by choking on their own vomit after being knocked unconscious._

_Oh well, He is the Sniff Sniff man, the one who will be Pirate King!_

_Omake part 1 end._

* * *

Sneak Preview :

_Luffy eyed Helmeppo and dashed past the crowd of marines with surprising grace. He snagged the youth by the collar and started running. "Hey, where are Zoro's swords?" Helmeppo's head was bumping against the floor with each step Luffy took. "It's in my room a bit back, we just passed it." Luffy kneed Helmeppo in the crotch. "Why didn't you say so sooner?" In the room, there were three Katana's, Luffy didn't know which one it was. Helmeppo wasn't much help seeing that he was sleeping. Well a knee to the crotch tends to do that. When he glanced out of the window, his blood grew hot and heavy._

_Coby was lying motionless on the floor, covered in blood while the rest of the marines pointed there rifles at Zoro. It was his turn to act._

_He crashed through the window and put himself in front of Zoro with his arms open._

_TEKKAI!_

_

* * *

_

A/N: So, I explained a bit of Luffy's power. I decided the shield would be too cumbersome to carry around all the time, not to mention it would be too noticeable. What happened was Luffy discovered that the black obsidian portion of the shield could retract into the blue core. The mirror also has special reflective/repelling property. I don't want the Yata no Kagami to be too strong. Like anything else, it has it's weaknesses.

For those of you who are wondering about what happened in the ten years that transpired, fear not. I will slowly reveal everything you need to know.

Also, some of you might be wondering if there will be any romance in this story. This is mainly an adventure fic but maybe ...

Remember to submit your questions for the SBS corner!

Also I'm writing a mini-series of what it would be like with the Kagu-Kagu no mi! This is a side story much like what Oda-sensei does with he cover pages.

I hope you like it!

* * *

**SBS CORNER Number One**

_Q: Fenrir the vicious :Dude luffys basically a god now don't you think he has too much power?_

_A: Es-Sensei : Nope. Luffy actually has a lot of limitations. He will take Physical damage like any other human being. The Kami Kami no Mi's Power will be revealed in the future. Also the term God would be a bit misleading. The fruit does not make him a god, they just grant him certain attributes._

_Q :Majin Hentai X :So how are you going to toughen up Luffy's enemies now that Luffy has this new ability?_

_A : Es-Sensei : Good question. It's not a matter of making them stronger or not. It's the way they approach Luffy in battle. If you would note, against Arlong, or even Enel, he relied a lot on his Rubber body to survive. Can you imagine what would happen if he weren't immune to physical damage? He'd be dead five times over. Another hint I'll give is, Someone will eat the Gumo Gumo fruit so look forward to that!_

_So this is the end of the first chapters SBS. Any questions or concerns just leave in the review._

_Ciao until the next SBS~_


	3. Chapter 3: Enter Pirate Hunter Zoro

**One Piece: The Lottery Lottery Fruit!**

* * *

_Who in their right mind would gamble their power devil fruit power based on a lottery? Monkey D. Luffy did. It is said that crazy people have crazy luck. You have the Paramecia, the Zoan, the Logia, and the Mythical Zoan. Enter the long forgotten fruit. The Deity Deity Fruit : Model __**Xxxxxxx**_

_**

* * *

**_

_Chapter 2: Enter Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro_

"Wow! We actually made it here!" Luffy exclaimed as he observed the unique looking Marine towers. Despite the small town, the marine base was quite large. Was it really necessary to have a marine base half the size of the town?

Coby tied the boat to the docks. "Navigation is one of the basics that everyone should know when they set out for sea. You can't just wander around and hope to reach your destination!" Luffy shrugged, "Floating works just fine for me. Now lets get some grub!" He skipped away singing about meat while Coby watched with envy.

Crazy Lucky People.

* * *

"Wow that was good!" Luffy had somehow packed away quite a lot of food. "So we're finally parting ways here ehh? You'll become a marine."

Coby teared up a little from happiness. "Its all thanks to you Luffy, without you, I would still be a cabin boy working under Alvida. You gave me hope and the resolve to follow my dreams. Even though we'll be enemies in the future, whenever you need help, I will do everything in my power to repay you. I promise this."

Luffy leaned over and clasped his hands to Coby. "You really have grown up haven't you? Don't forget, a man never goes back on his words."

Coby smiled back, "Yessir."

"Hey, you want to head to the marine base together?"

"Um, sure. I was planning to enlist there anyway," Coby said with a hint of happiness. Luffy was cheerful and easy to hang around with. "Yeah, I'm still wondering if they have Zoro locked up over there. Besides, I don't have a crew nor did I commit any crimes yet. They shouldn't try to arrest me."

At the entrance of the base, the two outpost were empty. The only thing that greeted them was the twelve foot high wall that enclosed the perimeter. Without hesitation, Luffy jumped up and hung onto the side of the wall. "I think I see something that side!" This time Coby took a peek over the wall after enlisting the help of a nearby garbage bin and promptly fell flat on his backside.

"T-there's n-no mistaking it. That black bandanna and harakimi, It's Roronoa Zoro!"

Tied to a crudely made cross, Zoro looked quite menacing. There was an air of danger that hung about him. Without a doubt, Zoro is strong.

Noting their presence, Zoro looked up at them with a strong gaze. "Hey you! Could you please come over and untie me? It's been nine days and I'm exhausted."

Luffy frowned, "Those ropes look pretty weak to me, I'd break them easy."

Maybe a little incentive was needed. "I'll repay you by hunting down a fugitive and giving you all the reward money. I'm not lying, I'll keep my words."

Before either of them could reply, they were all surprised when a ladder propped up next to them by the wall. A little girl climbed up and put her finger over her lips and shushed them.

Coby watched in growing horror as the little girl approached the demonic Zoro who looked down at her neutrally. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"Save her Luffy!"

"Do it yourself"

"Get lost brat!"

The little girl smiled, "But you must be so hungry Onii-san. I made some rice balls for you!"

Zoro snarled. "I'm not hungry! Get out of here before I kill you!"

She stammered, "b-but."

A nauseating spoiled brat made his presence known. "Now now Roronoa Zoro, don't you go picking on kids or I'll report to my father about it." The owner of the voice was a garish looking youth who had a deformed pumpkin haircut on his head. Garish gold chains and necklaces adorned his body. Coby started having doubts about the Marines after all. No marine should display his wealth like that.

The odd looking fellow, Helmeppo, was as rotten as they came. He spat out and crushed the young girls riceball beneath his feet before ordering his men to throw the girl over the fence. Coby caught the girl, using his own body as a shield to protect the girl. While Coby tried fixing his sprained ankle, Luffy approached the haggard swordsmen.

Zoro ignored the lanky teen and eyed the flattened dirtball on the floor. "Hey. Pick that up for me."

Luffy's eyebrow shot over his hairline but he picked it up anyway. "It's more dirt than rice now. You still want it?"

Zoro growled, "Just shut up and give it to me." Luffy shrugged. He knew hunger made people irrational but eating dirt was too much, even for him. Zoro gagged and choked down the muddy Onigiri the little girl made for him. "It taste great."

Luffy cocked his head. Did he hear wrong? The dirt ball tasted great? He glanced down at the muddy remains. "Tell her I ate every bit of it." Luffy tilted his hat and grinned.

Looks like Zoro was a pretty decent guy after all.

"I've decided." Luffy said mysteriously. "I want you to join my crew."

Zoro perked up. "Crew?"

Luffy grinned, "Yup! I'm a pirate. One day, I'll rule over all the Seas and be even greater than the Pirate King."

"Count me out then. I got my own goals and ambition. I just got to stay alive for thirty days and then they'll release me. I _WILL_ live through this, I still have my _ambition _to fulfill."

Zoro's determination and resolute will leaked through to his words.

Luffy was pleased. If Zoro joined his crew, that'd be great. Zoro was already on his way to realizing his Haki.

On the dark hair teen's face was a knowing smile as he walked away.

"Don't worry, you will definitely realize your ambition but I can also tell you for sure. You'll join my crew."

* * *

"Wow, Zoro-Nii really ate it?" Rika gushed.

Luffy grinned, "Yeah, he even wanted seconds." Coby who was applying a bag of ice to his swollen ankle asked, "So why was he arrested in the first place? He's a bounty hunter but it isn't illegal to hunt or kill fugitives according to the law."

Rika pouted in annoyance. "It's because Zoro-nii protected me from Helmeppo's pet wolf! It was going to bite me when big bro appeared and cut it up. Helmeppo got mad and locked him up." Cobys gasped, "But that's outrageous. There was no grounds for arresting Zoro like that." Rika smiled sadly. "It's because Lieutenant Morgan is his father and no one dares go against him. Anyone who does is killed." Coby clecnhed his fist hard, 'This isn't the 'Justice' I want to uphold! The marines here are corrupt!"

Luffy cracked his knuckles. "I'm going to 'convince' the Marines to let him go."

Karma always comes backs to bitch.

Poor Helmeppo.

Helmeppo was strutting through town, making the citizen's bow before him, when 'he' showed up. He was dressed up in a red button vest, blue knee length shorts and a Strawhat. "What are you doing? Get out of my way or I'll execute you like Roronoa Zoro in three days time."

The dark haired stranger shrugged. "I'd like to see you try. You're a fool weakling who rides on his fathers coattails. If you want to put me to death, do it. Take my life." His dark eyes showed no fear, no deviation from his iron will.

Helmeppo felt the hair on the back of his neck raising. Gut instinct was telling him to make a run for it. "Watch out you straw hat brat! I'm going to tell my father on you!" The teen spread open his arms in an open invitation.

"I will break Zoro free. You don't have to find me, I will find you and when I do, I will teach what happens when you oppress others."

Coby looked on at awe from the side. The easy going and naive Luffy he knew was gone, replaced by a serious and charismatic man. Luffy turned to Coby. "Do you want to see Justice? If so come along, I will show you what true Justice is."

And they departed for the Marine base.

Meanwhile, Helmeppo ran to his daddy crying. "Dad I want you to kill someone!" Lieutenant Morgan stood up. "Oh? Why should I take care of your mess? I AM THE GREAT AXE HAND MORGAN." He booted Helmeppo across the face. Putting a lit cigar between teeth, he rubbed his iron plated jaw. "You're a bastard son not worth hitting. If you want to do something, use your own two hand to make it happen. Cheat steal, anything goes as long as you win." He glared at his tearing son, "Now get out of here."

Luffy walked up to the restrained Zoro. "You're joining my crew."

"No I'm not going to be a pirate. I have things to do. I don't care what other people think of me. I haven't done anything I regretted in the past and the same goes for the future."

"Well, I want you for my crew. You can use swords right?"

Zoro looked wistfully at the sky, "I do have a Katana. It's something I treasure most, second to my life."

Luffy finally found an opening. "I'm going to get that Katana back for you but if you want it back, you're going to have to join me."

"THAT'S DIRTY!"

Luffy waved him off, "I'll be right back."

* * *

Luffy peered up at the roof of the marine base where he could hear voices from.

Alright, time to get up there.

_Geppou!_

Using the moon walk technique, Luffy jumped up and jumped again in midair. The technique used a lot of leg strength in order to jump in midair but he trained enough to ignore the stress on his legs. On the last midair jump, he used to much power and overshot over the roof. Luckily there was a statue where he landed on. The huge stone statue collapsed backwards, breaking in half as it hit the edge of the roof.

Whoops.

Luffy looked sheepish and bowed in apology. "Sorry."

"KILL HIM! I'll PARADE HIS BLEACHED SKULL AROUND TOWN FOR YEARS TO COME!" Captain Morgan was frothing at the mouth. Ten years of hard work and misappropriated funds were gone in a blink of an eye.

Luffy eyed Helmeppo and dashed past the crowd of marines with surprising grace. He snagged the youth by the collar and started running. "Hey, where are Zoro's swords?" Helmeppo's head was bumping against the floor with each step Luffy took. "It's in my room a bit back, we just passed it." Luffy kneed Helmeppo in the crotch. "Why didn't you say so sooner?" In the room, there were three Katana's, Luffy didn't know which one it was. Helmeppo wasn't much help seeing that he was sleeping. Well a knee to the crotch tends to do that. When he glanced out of the window, his blood grew hot and heavy.

Coby was lying motionless on the floor, covered in blood while the rest of the marines pointed there rifles at Zoro. It was his turn to act.

He crashed through the window and put himself in front of Zoro with his arms open.

_TEKKAI!_

When using Tekkai, the technique hardens the users' muscles to the level of iron, in order to nullify damage taken from attacks. In this case, Luffy conditioned his body to the point where bullets would have not effect pierce his body. He had considered using his shield but the size of it would not be enough to cover Zoro who was behind him. he burst out laughing. "It's no use! Bullets won't work on me!"

It was the half truth. While the bullets didn't pierce his body, the force behind the bullet left bruises. The jarring force behind the bullets felt like a sledgehammer shot but he couldn't afford to show weakness.

Coby knew Luffy was great but having a bullet proof body? It was too epic. So he fainted, frothing foam from his mouth. Zoro was shocked, "What kind of human are you?"

Luffy quirked an eyebrow. "It's one of the six skills of the Rokushiki, Tekkai. I can harden my body to the point where it's like iron carapaces."

Zoro shook his head in amazement, "Never mind, rather than dying here, Why don't I just accede to your request and become a pirate?" Luffy pumped his arms up in the air. "Yes! I have a crewmate now! Which one of these swords are yours?"

"All three. I use the **Santōryū, **the three sword style**."**

Luffy snapped Zoro's rope off and handed him the three katana. "Let's see how strong you are Zoro." Zoro put the Wadō Ichimonji in his mouth and unsheathed his other two Katanas. "No problem Captain."

What happened next was total slaughter, It was eight versus one. Zoro blocked eight swords with his own three and disarmed all of them in one sweeping slash. "Don't move, or I'll kill you." Luffy noted with some glee that Zoro was already tapping into his haki, those of weaker will would be freaked out by the danger emanating from Zoro. "Since I've resisted the marines, this will mean I will become an outlaw. But that is fine... I still have my own goals. I'm going to be the worlds greatest swordsman. It doesn't matter if my name is clean or not. My name will be known worldwide but if you do something that ends up in the way of my goal, I will cut your stomach open to say sorry!"

Luffy grinned at Zoro's proclamation. "Don't worry, your name will spread through the seven seas and even the heavens will hear of it. I promise you that and a man never goes back on his words."

Lieutenant Morgan dashed forward in a wild rage, he swung his axe arm at Luffy who dodged. The axe was so sharp, it cut through the metal fence and stone walls. Luffy did a Tekkai in midair and took Morgans chopping slice. He was sure he heard one of his ribs creak in protest but he quashed the pain. He twisted his body and kicked the forearm which had the axe implanted all the way to the elbow. There was a sickening crack as the bone and wooden stake splintered inside Morgan's arm. Luffy gave the kneeling Lieutenant a lightning fast right hook that unhinged the iron jaw he was so proud of. Lietenant Morgan collapsed to the floor but Luffy did not stop his assault. His punches broke ribs, knocked loose teeth, and damaged Morgan's internal organs. Lieutenant Morgan was literally getting beaten to death.

"Stop right there you Strawhat!" Luffy turned to see Helmeppo holding a flintlock pistol to Coby's head. Turning back to Morgan, he bashed the man across the face one more time before turning to Helmeppo.

"You should have stayed asleep." Luffy growled towards Helmeppo. Every time he got into battle, he always felt a bit more... violent. "Don't come closer or I'll blow his head off!"

Coby screwed his eyes shut, prepared for death. "Luffy! I don't want to be a burden! I am not afraid of death!" Luffy let the wind caress his face as he let out a true grin. "I know."

He ignored the squawking of the dumb Lieutenant's son.

_Soru._

It was a speed technique that allows the users to moves at extremely high speeds in order to avoid attacks, as well as to attack at higher speeds. It was revealed that the principle of this move was to kick off the ground at least ten times in a blink of an eye. Luffy used the speed to close the distance between him and Helmeppo in a blink of an eye. At the speed he was going at and the force behind his blow, it was a one hit K.O.

"Go back to sleep fool."

Helmeppo's eyes rolled up to the sky as he grabbed his badly abused crotch and went to "sleep".

All the men in the vicinity grabbed their kintama in phantom pain. _"Scary." _Even Zoro winced a little.

The battle was finally over.

Zoro sheathed his swords.

"We're free!" The rest of the marines jumped in joy seeing that that they were finally free. This was the cue for Zoro to collapse.

* * *

"Wow. That was great. I see where Rika got her cooking skills from. I almost starved after not eating for nine days." Zoro laughed and patted his stomach. Luffy stacked the dishes neatly, which was twice the size of Zoro's stack. "How can a scrawny guy like you eat more than me? "

Luffy shrugged. "Using the Rokushiki takes a lot of energy." Zoro took this chance to grill Luffy for info. "How did you block bullets and move so fast?" Luffy was chewing on his toothpick thinking hard. "Well, you would basically train until your body can enter a state of absolute tension. The only draw back is that you can't move a lot while using this skill. Watch this. This is another part of the Rokushiki. The Shigan. It is a close-quarter combat technique, in which the user pushes their finger into a certain target at a very high speed, leaving a wound similar to a bullet wound, making guns unnecessary."

Luffy walked over to the wall and his hand flashed out in a blur. His index finger was knuckle deep into the wooden wall. When he pulled out his finger, there was a perfect hole in the wall. Coby and Zoro gaped. If that shigan hit the liver or any of the internal organs, the opponent was screwed. Luffy dusted off his hands chuckling. "I'm not that good at some of the skills yet. I've seen masters put their fingers through iron plates."

Luffy propped his hat back on his head, "Anyway, Zoro and I are heading to the Grand line next. If you want, you can join us Coby." Zoro seemed to agree. "I don't mind."

Coby was happy that Luffy wanted him to join but ... "You two taught me to live by my dreams. Sorry Luffy but I want to be a marine and uphold 'JUSTICE'!"

There was a cough from the doorway. It was the Marine captain of the base. "Excuse me. We were wondering if you are really Pirates?" Luffy glanced at Zoro, "Well I just found my first crewmate so that would make us pirates."

"While we are grateful to you for saving our town, As marines, we cannot let you stay here any longer. Everything that happened will be reported to the headquarters."

Luffy got to his feet and bowed to Rika's mother. "Thank you for the excellent food but we have to go now, our journey awaits us." Zoro stood up and followed suit. Coby dropped on his knees to the floor, pressing his head down in a bow. "LUFFY! ZORO! THANK YOU! YOU TWO TAUGHT ME TO LIVE BY MY DREAMS! PLEASE, LET ME JOIN THE MARINES, CAPTAIN!"

Luffy patted the Marine captain on the shoulder. "If you want to thank us, Let Coby join the marines." In a quieter voice, he whispered. "One day he will go far, maybe even climb to the ranks of an admiral." The captain looked down at Coby. 'Stand up Seamen Recruit Coby! I'm allowing you to join the Marines but don't think we don't know about your past! Don't under estimate our marine's knowledge gathering ability!"

Coby lept to his feet and saluted, "YES SIR!"

Luffy and Zoro took this chance to set off, their provisions restocked and their dinghy ready to set sail.

"LUFFY! ZORO! THANK YOU! REMEMBER MY WORDS BACK THEN! A MAN KEEPS HIS PROMISES!"

Luffy grinned, "No problem!"

The rest of the marines appeared behind Coby.

"MEN! SALUTE!" The Captain bellowed.

It was a fitting farewell to the towns savior as they sailed towards their next great adventure.

**_

* * *

Omake_**

_The Lottery Lottery Fruit : Kagu Kagu no mi Part 2_

_"Join me." Luffy said in a deadly serious voice._

_"Never." Zor shot back._

_"Why not?" Luffy questioned._

_"Cause I don't want to have a captain who farts all the time!"_

_Luffy look awkwardly to the side and started whistling. "No I don't."_

_*Bloooop*_

_"..."_

_"That was my stomach growling."_

_*Blooooooop*_

_"Well, I'm really hungry."_

_Zoro had already passed out by the noxious gas, s__o were the marines and Coby. _

_One shock wave flatulence and a lit match had taken care of the entire marine force. Luffy can control different types of gases. In this case, Methane gas plus fire equals big explosion. The battle was over in a second and a big ball of roaring flame._

_Luffy lugged Zoro's unconscious form over his shoulder and went off to the docks._

_"One nakama down!"_

_And thus Zoro joined the crew._

* * *

Sneak Preview :

_Luffy tried to pry his head loose from the bird mouth with no avail. The Straw Hat was stuck to the beak and he didn't want the bird to fly off with his hat. The only warning Luffy got was the sound of cannon fire and the sound of a projectile whistling through the air. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a cannonball zooming towards him. He cursed and steeled his muscles._

_Tekkai!_

_The impact and following explosion obliterated the bird that was carrying him, and blasted him to earth with bone crunching impact. Luffy struggled to his knees and coughed in pain. He had only managed to activate a partial Tekkai due to the suddenness of the attack. He hacked and spit out blood onto his hands. The cannonball was stronger than most and the force of the explosion did some internal damage which he was feeling at the moment._

_Who the fuck shot a cannon at him?_

_

* * *

_

A/N: YES I KNOW! ROKUSHIKI! I'm sorry you didn't get to see more of Luffy's Devil fruit abilities but I felt it was fitting to introduce Luffy's new fighting style. More of Luffy's power will definitely be revealed!

Here is some quick info.

Luffy did not master the Rokushiki yet!

He's more developed in certain areas but he's still a far way from becoming a master.

Next chapter, Luffy reveals his another part of his devil fruit power!

Any questions you have just can be asked for the SBS board next chapter!

Ciao until the next chapter~

* * *

The SBS Corner

...Is sadly empty seeing as no one submitted any questions.

T-T

Till next time

Viking out!


	4. Chapter 4: The Cloud Gathering Sword

**EDIT: FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO WANT TO SEE WHAT THE YATA NO KAGAMI LOOKS LIKE, I MADE A PHOTOSHOP CREATION OF IT FOR YOU!**

**forum . mangastream . com/showthread . php?t=8157**

**Just take out the spaces between the dot .

* * *

**

**One Piece: The Lottery Lottery Fruit!**

* * *

_Who in their right mind would gamble their power devil fruit power based on a lottery? Monkey D. Luffy did. It is said that crazy people have crazy luck. You have the Paramecia, the Zoan, the Logia, and the Mythical Zoan. Enter the long forgotten devil fruit. The Deity Deity Fruit : Model __**Xxxxxxx**_

_**

* * *

**_

Chapter 3 : The Cloud Gathering Sword of Heaven

"Neh, Zoro. Why don't you want to learn Tekkai? It's dead useful for defense."

Luffy was sailing with Zoro after they left Shell Town. Zoro refused to learn Tekkai, saying it was useless for him. Of course, Luffy got defensive over his abilities.

"You can even block cannonballs with it!"

Zoro smacked Luffy on the head with the sheath of his Katana. "As a swordsman, I need to be able to move at any given moment. Standing there and steeling your muscles isn't going to do much good. It would be better if I can use Soru instead. I definitely need the speed advantage."

Luffy rubbed his chin and pondered. "Well... I guess I can teach you Soru first. You're going to have to wait until we reach land though. In return, can you teach me some One Sword Style Techniques?" Zoro was perplexed, Luffy wasn't carrying around a sword, maybe he just wanted to learn how to use one?

"You have a sword?"

Luffy only gave him a mysterious smile. "Not yet, but soon."

* * *

_(A Few Days Later)_

"Oh Kami, I'm so hungry." Both of them were sprawled on the dinghy while Luffy moaned about his stomach eating him up. They had ran out of provisions after several days of aimless drifting. They looked up at the the bird flying overhead and wondered how they could eat it. "Hey Zoro, If you throw me up high enough, I can snag that bird and we can eat it!"

Under normal circumstances, that in itself was a crazy Idea but Zoro was hungry. Couldn't hurt to try right?

Zoro put his hands together and secured Luffy's foot. "Ready? 3... 2... 1... HEAVE!" With a great burst of energy, Zoro flung Luffy straight up in the air and then stared in disbelief.

The bird was the one eating Luffy!

The humongous seagull was flying away and Zoro wasted no time rowing after it. Three stragglers in the water latched onto his oars making his rowing slow until the bird flew out of sight. The three strangers pulled out daggers and ordered him to stop the boat. Zoro took extra care not to hurt their arms while he beat them until they were black and blue. Those three fools made him lose sight of Luffy, Now they were going to row until they got to land.

"So why were the three of you drifting in the middle of nowhere?"

The three pirates looked embarrassed. "Well, we just got back from robbing a merchant boat when we came across this young lady. She was quite a looker! At first she pretended to be starving and then took our boat and treasure, next thing we knew a storm came and our ship fell apart!"

Zoro mused for a moment. This girl was able to predict the weather, her navigations skills must be top class. She sounded tricky but would be a good addition to the crew. He'd have to find Luffy and ask him if he wanted this Nami girl to join. Fixing a serious glare at the three, he ordered them to put some back to their rowing. The three started rowing at a breakneck rate and Zoro could see a town coming into sight.

* * *

To those who seek the ocean of paradise, they must first find their way there. Which is why Nami refused to let go of the Map she just stole from Buggy the Clown. His henchmen were chasing her down map and they were gaining on her. She needed a miracle, something to distract them while she ran away. There was a resounding boom and something dropped in between her and her attackers.

Luffy tried to pry his head loose from the bird mouth with no avail. The Straw Hat was stuck to the beak and he didn't want the bird to fly off with his hat. The only warning Luffy got was the sound of cannon fire and the sound of a projectile whistling through the air. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a cannonball zooming towards him. He cursed and steeled his muscles.

Tekkai!

The impact and following explosion obliterated the bird that was carrying him, and blasted him to earth with bone crunching impact. Luffy struggled to his knees and coughed in pain. He had only managed to activate a partial Tekkai due to the suddenness of the attack. He hacked and spit out blood onto his hands. The cannonball was stronger than most and the force of the explosion did some internal damage which he was feeling at the moment.

Who the fuck shot a cannon at him?

Nami blinked at the slightly smoking figure at the center of the crater. maybe this was a sign from heaven that he was here to save her. "Oh boss! You're finally here! I've been waiting for you to come save me. I'll leave everything to you." With those parting words, Nami took off. Luffy was still a little bit confused by what the girl said. She wasn't part of his crew so why was she calling him Boss? Maybe she wanted to join his crew?

Three hulking shadows loomed over him. "Boss Eh?"

Luffy in turn glared back, someone had just shot a cannon at him and he was pissed. Since these three idiots volunteered to be punching bags, he wasn't going to complain. He knocked them out with one hit each but he didn't stop there, he punched them until their teeth fell out and they started coughing out blood. He gave them each a savage kick to the ribs before his rage subsided. He always had a bad habit of leaving his opponents on deaths door. It was partially due to his rage and his belief that killing was the last resort. Beating them half to death was the next best option, they tend to leave you alone once the fear has been beaten into them.

"Wow that was really brutal." The orange hair girl was back and had observed his fight from the safety of one of the nearby roofs.

Luffy sighed and adjusted his hat. "Well they were asking for it. I was just shot by a cannon so I wasn't feeling the best of moods. Who are you anyway?"

"Me? I'm Nami. I steal treasures from pirates. Say, do you want to join up with me? We can make a lot of money together." Luffy ripped away the remainder of his charred vest, "Sorry, not interested."

Nami's eyes lit up, "Say are those for sale?"

Luffy scowled, "No they're not. Now shoo."

"C'mon! Let me take a look at them, I haven't seen anything like it before"

* * *

Nami sighed. "Fine, I won't ask you to sell it anymore. So you got separated from the rest of your crew? How many people are there?"

Luffy nodded, "Only one." he glanced around, "Say, is this your house?"

"Nope, It's a random house from one of the villagers, they're living in a shelter outside of town because of the pirate Buggy."

Luffy picked his nose. "Hmm is he that scary? This pirate called Nami?"

"I'm Nami and the Pirate's Buggy! Don't switch the names around!" she shouted at him. He only laughed in reply, "Haha, so you're the thief Nami and you steal from these empty houses. Okay."

She slammed her hand on the desk again. "I only steal from pirates!" She pulled out a map. "I'm going to steal One hundred Million Berries and buy a certain village back. With the map of the Grand Line, I can steal from even richer pirates!"

"By any chance do you know how to navigate?"

Nami look affronted. "Of course! I'm actually the best navigator in East Blue!" Luffy whooped and cheered with a banzai pose, "That's great! We're also on the way to the Grand Line too!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, why don't you join as the Navigator of our pirate crew?" Luffy asked with a sincere smile.

"What?" Nami looked angry and shocked. "Forget it, I'm not working for a pirate." She spat the word out with vehemence that even Luffy was taken back.

"Oh..." He was silent for several seconds. "So you're going to join my crew then?" Nami karate chopped him on the head. "I just said that I wasn't joining! Unless..." "Unless what?" Luffy prompted. "Well if you come with me to see Buggy then I'll consider it." Luffy sprang to his feet. "Okay. Where's this Pirate Nami?"

Nami started strangling Luffy with the rope she just brought out. "I'M NAMI AND THE PIRATE IS BUGGY!"

* * *

"You should light the cannon Nami. It's okay."

It wasn't okay. How can she kill someone in cold blood? He said he was a pirate but he didn't look or act the part. She knew she had to steal 100 Million Berries to buy back Cocoyashi Village. She couldn't back out now. With Buggy's treasure, she would only need Seven million berries more.

"Your hands are shaking. You lack the resolve to risk your life for you goals and dreams. You have to realize that in order to succeed, you have to do some things in life that you are not proud of but the deciding factor is, can you do it? "

Hiding her tears she lit the cannon that was loaded with a buggy ball. It was a specialized cannon ball that was strong enough to destroy a small town. Nami looked at Luffy, engraving the final moments of his life to memory. After she bought the town back, she'll pray to his dead spirit everyday. But oddly enough the young man was smiling. He leaned back, dropping his hat behind him.

He smiled at her. "I like your resolve. Never stepping back for your dreams. You're definitely going to join my crew." Nami couldn't believe how relaxed Luffy was even in the face of death. "Oi Luffy. Are you going to be fine in there?" Everyone turned to the source of the noise.

It was the _Santōryū_ user, the nefarious Pirate Hunter Zoro. Luffy's crew mate is the Pirate Hunter? How did he convince him to join?

"Step down Zoro, I'm fine. Let me show you how useful Tekkai can be." He looked at the Cannon and steeled his resolve and muscles as the Buggy ball closed the distance.

_Tekkai Utsugi!_

Instead of applying a normal tekkai, Luffy was using the Tekkai as a counter. This was a higher level move used entirely as a counter instead, where the purpose isn't to absorb damage from the attack, but to transfer the shock of the attack back to the attacker. In this case, he would redirect the shock and the explosion of the Buggy ball. The timing would have to be very precise but Luffy had enough training with his Yata no Kagami to get the timing down.

There was a horrific explosion as pieces of the iron cage exploded into shrapnel. Nami gasped at the sight of the explosion, no human could have survived that.

Zoro unsheathed his swords. "Orders captain?"

The smoke started to clear. The silhouette of a tall lean boy reaching down for his strawhat silenced most of Buggy's crew. The young man just took one of the infamous Buggy balls at point blank range and survived! Luffy propped his hat back in place, the cold look on his face determined. "Just take care of the lackeys. I got something to settle with Buggy."

He turned to Nami and smiled. "Don't sweat over the Cannonball thing. I'm fine."

Nami collapsed to her knees. Who was this guy?

Buggy unsheathed his daggers. "I don't care about you Strawhat brat. I want to kill the Pirate Hunter Zoro, If I kill him, I will get even more famous!" Zoro got into a battle stance, holding one of his sheathed swords. "This is a challenge to me Luffy and I will take it." Luffy frowned but crossed his arms. "I'll give you thirty seconds. Then it's my turn."

Zoro grinned savagely. "Watch closely Luffy, this is one of the moves that I'm working on, you'll learn this too."

**Ittō-Ryū Iai: Shishi Sonson! **(_One Sword Style Draw and Resheath Technique: Lion's Song)_

The Lion's song was a quick draw technique, a one hit kill. It's was still in the early stage of experimentation. But Zoro had developed it enough to work on most opponents. The slash would run from hip to shoulder and leave the opponent down.

Luffy narrowed his eyes. "Zoro. Buggy's a devil fruit user. Remember in the future, expect anything to happen when it comes to fighting a DF user."

Zoro's eye widened. There was no blood from the wound! He spun around in time just to get a dagger to the side of his sides. There was a ... floating hand?

Buggy laughed at the shocked expression on their faces. "It's no use Pirate hunter! The battle is over! I ate the Bara Bara no mi (The Section Section Fruit!) I'm the sectioned man! Luffy stood in front of Zoro, "Your thirty seconds are over. It's my turn now."

Luffy glared at Buggy. "HEY YOU BIG NOSE. THAT WAS A CHEAP ATTACK!"

Buggy snapped and shot his arm at Luffy. "DIE YOU BRAT! NO ONE DISSES THE NOSE!" Luffy caught the blade between his teeth and bit it. To their surprise, even Zoro's, the blade snapped into pieces.

Luffy flexed his wrist, adjusting the shield core from the back of his hand to his palm. He pressed his right hand against the glass core and focused. Much to Nami and Zoro's disbelief, The glass portion of the shield seem to ripple like water before his fingers actually sank into the blue core, followed by the rest of his hand.

From the view point of Buggy and his crew, the brat reached INTO his own hand!

Luffy smiled darkly. "For Devil Fruit users such as yourself, this is the perfect weapon to use." He pulled out from the core of his shield, a short sword. It was a most curious sword, having no guard and only three notches long from the handle. The entire sword was one piece of grayish blue metal.

"This is the Cloud Gathering Sword of Heaven."

Buggy laughed at him, "Swords don't work on me and that short sword of yours can't even be called a proper sword!"

Luffy sighed, "It's not in it's final form yet. This is the Ten Notch Sword, I only unlocked Three Notches, I'm still lacking in my training but this should be enough to defeat you." Luffy put the sword to his side and got into a familiar stance.

**Ittō-Ryū Iai... **

"No way, He' couldn't have learned it so quickly." Zoro said.

**Shishi Sonson! **(_One Sword Style Draw and Resheath Technique: Lion's Song)_

It was a pale imitation of what the true technique could have done but it served it's purpose. The attack ran from hip to shoulder as a shallow cut due to the shortness of the blade but there was one big difference compared to Zoro's. Buggy was on the ground bleeding from the wound and screaming in pain.

It had been over twenty years since he received a cut of some sort. Somehow the brat had negated his devil fruit powers!. Buggy screamed to his men, "Get me out of here! NOW!" The rest of the crew obeyed without question, someone had cut their captain who had the Devil Fruit ability to be immune to cuts, they were not going to stay and test the blade themselves.

Luffy let them flee, they were of no threat to him and Zoro was injured.

Zoro looked at the blade that Luffy was holding, it was emanating a odd sword sort of presence to his senses. He didn't know where Luffy got the sword from but it was no ordinary sword. He staggered over, "Can I take a look at it?"

Luffy seemed to hesitate but finally gave in. "It probably won't like you but give it a try." Zoro gripped the handle of the sword and immediately fell to his knees. There was and odd pressure forcing itself on him, making him want to fall into the darkness to escape the onslaught of overbearing dominance." This sword could not be tamed.

He flung the short sword aside and gasped, shaking on all four. Just by holding the sword was almost enough to make him lose consciousness. Luffy picked it up and shoved it back into the blue core on his palm where it disappeared. "Wow not bad, Most people would not have been able to even hold it for more than a second."

Zoro struggled to his feet. "Why can you use the sword like that? It... it's alive or something. What was with that pressure?" Luffy held up his hand where the Blue core resided, "It's one of the weapons my Devil fruit gave me." The black Obsidan core slid out mechanically forming a full octagonal shield.

"The Yata no Kagami and the Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi."

"But I saw you swim before. I thought Devil fruit users couldn't swim."

Luffy shrugged. "I don't know why myself. I ate the Lottery Lottery fruit and got a random fruit ability. Hell, I don't even know what fruit it was I got!" Zoro nodded to Nami, "Who is she?"

Luffy grinned. "That's Nami, Our navigator."

Nami karate chopped his head. "I never said I was joining you crew! I said we would work together!" Luffy pouted, "But you shot a cannon at me!" Nami smacked him again, "Yeah that was before I realized that you were a freak and Cannons didn't affect you!"

Nami ran to the back of the tavern and came back with two big sacks of gold and treasures. "Score! Now I have the map of the Grand Line and Ten Million Berries!"

Luffy laughed and threw up his arms, "We have our Navigator and the Map! Let's head off to the Grand Line!"

"Hey you guys..." It was the villagers who were driven out by Buggy. "What happened here?"

Luffy grinned. "I beat up Buggy and he ran away!"

The villagers cheered and word spread quickly. Luffy celebrated with them and they parted on good terms with the town. Later when the Marines came to investigate, they were surprised to find out someone had beaten Buggy. The one who did it?

StrawHat Luffy.

* * *

**_Omake_**

_The Lottery Lottery Fruit : Kagu Kagu no mi Part 3_

_"HEY YOU BIG NOSE! THAT WAS A CHEAPSHOT!"_

_Buggy screamed in rage, "NO ONE DISSES THE NOSE!" He shot his arm at Luffy with a dagger, ready to skewer the impudent youth._

_The dagger shot through Luffy's forehead, leaving a hole in the middle of his head which reformed with blue smoke._

_"Ah scary. A sectioned man, what a monster!"_

_Nami screamed at him. "Well you're a gas man!"_

_Luffy focused on his hand._

_ Vacuum Palm! _

_It was a technique that creates a vacuum in his palm by concentrating air with 5% oxygen content there. By forcing his opponents to breathe in the 5% oxygen gas, It would force the victim to be instantly knocked out, going into a comatose state._

_Blackout palm!_

_He grabbed Buggy's face and Buggy fell to the ground unnaturally. It was like he lost consciousness on his feet and collapsed to the floor in a boneless heap._

_Don't mess with the Sniff Sniff man, STRAWHAT LUFFY! I WILL BE THE PIRATE KING!_

_*Fart*_

_..._

_"I'm hungry, that was my stomach."_

_*Bloooop*_

_"Yeah I farted, Sorry guys."_

_Nami was running away with Luffy chasing her, trying to convince her to join the crew._

_One Nakama down, Navigator? _

_Maybe..._

_

* * *

_

Sneak Preview :

_"Whats going on?" It was the butler who had his hair slicked back and rimless glasses on his face. "Just who are all these ruffians ojou-sama?"_

_"Klahadore!"_

_"Leave the premise at once you pirates, you too trash of the seas, are you going to follow your father's footsteps and become a murderer?" The butler mocked."_

_**USSOOOPPPPP PUUUNNCH!** "Shut the hell up you bastard butler, my father is a brave warrior of the Sea!"_

_The strength training paid off, the force of the punch had shattered Klahadore's lens, pushing sharp shards of broke glass into the right eye. Kaya gasped. "LEAVE NOW USOPP! I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!"_

_Usopp looked pleadingly at Kaya but she pointed him to the exit, tears streaming from her eyes. Silently, he left. Luffy patted Usopp on the back, "You did the right thing and defended your honor. I'm sure she'll understand." Usopp tighten his bandanna and forced a smile, "Yeah, I'm sure she would."_

* * *

SBS Corner

AND START!

_Colin: Will he get the other 2 treasures? The Kusanagi and the Magatama?_

_ES: Well, the Cloud Gathering Sword, Ten- Notch Sword, Kusanagi all are pretty much the same blade but to prevent Naruto like misconception of how the blade actually looks, I'll call it the Ten Notch Sword of Cloud Gathering Sword._

_Procella: Will Boa Hancock be intro'd early?_

_ES: Do you want her to be intro'd early?_

_Negi: Is Luffy's power limited to only one deity item?_

_ES: No, It's not but it is limited to one Diety in case you haven't figured out which one it is. Deity Deity fruit: Model Xxxxxxx_

_LordPage1692: Will there be other Deity Deity fruit users, like say OC's of some sort?_

_ES: I will not be introducing any OC but if I do, they will be from another anime/manga so you can understand their physical description. Also, the Deity Deity fruit is a Lost fruit._

* * *

EDIT: FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO WANT TO SEE WHAT THE YATA NO KAGAMI LOOKS LIKE, I MADE A PHOTOSHOP CREATION OF IT FOR YOU!

forum . mangastream . com/showthread . php?t=8157

Just take out the spaces between the dot .

A/N: Okay! That's it for this chapter's SBS! For those participants who were not chosen, do not fret! Just try again!

Also if you don't understand something, post that in the SBS also. Chances are, other people would have the same question!

So whose excited about this new Usopp?

Expect a radical divergence from the original storyline next chapter!

Viking out~


	5. Chapter 5: The King of Liars

**One Piece: The Lottery Lottery Fruit!**

* * *

_Who in their right mind would gamble their power devil fruit power based on a lottery? Monkey D. Luffy did. It is said that crazy people have crazy luck. You have the Paramecia, the Zoan, the Logia, and the Mythical Zoan. Enter the long forgotten devil fruit. The Deity Deity Fruit : Model __**Xxxxxxx**_

_**

* * *

**Chapter 4: King of Liars_

"Ahh! Money, I can't get enough of it." Nami exclaimed, taking a deep sniff of the wad of cash in her hands. Zoro ducked his head trying hard not to laugh after he recalled what happened late last night.

Luffy being the honest fellow he was, decided to tell Nami what happened. "Ahh. That's money? I thought it was toilet paper and I wiped my ass with it." Nami looked down in horror and indeed saw dried brown stains on the wad of cash. Torn between revulsion and greed, Nami could not decide whether to throw the money overboard or to keep it.

"YOU BASTARD!"

Luffy looked up at Zoro with swollen eyes and bruised lips. "S-s-save m-me!"

Nami was proceeding to shove her staff up Luffy's ass when they saw the island. "Wow! There really is an island here!" Luffy said, absentmindedly warding off Nami's attempt to skewer him like a shish kebob. Nami huffed in annoyance, "Of course there is an island you dope. It's a small village called Syrup town. Here we can probably get a bigger ship."

Luffy's eyes gleamed. "And MEAT!"

Zoro joined in, "Let's not forget the Grog."

Their joyous mood did not last long, Luffy narrowed his eyes when he heard the tale tell sign of a bullet flying through the air. Using the back of his hand, he deflected the lead projectile that was aimed for the back of his head without looking. Zoro unsheathed his sword and deflected another lead projectile that was aimed towards him this time. Nami smartly took cover on the floor of her boat.

"I AM CAPTAIN USOPP, PROTECTOR OF THIS TOWN. BEHIND ME IS A FORCE OF EIGHTY MEN. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO DIE, TURN YOUR SHIPS BACK NOW PIRATES!" A voice shouted out from the slope in front of them.

Luffy was wary, if all eighty men fired, their boat would turn into swiss cheese! Nami kicked Luffy harshly in the shin. "If I lose my money because of this, I wish you luck finding your way to the Grand Line."

Zoro scanned the slope, "I don't see eighty men... He might be bluffing."

Luffy frowned. "He might be lying but lets be safe than sorry. I'm sure there another place where we can anchor."

"Aye Captain."

* * *

After anchoring at another slope at the side of the village and securing the treasure, they made there way to the village tavern. Finding another place to anchor was a pain, the island was surrounded by steep cliff walls and by the time they found another entrance, it was already dusk.

Making small talk, Nami grilled the inn keeper for info. "So whose this Usopp I hear about? Is he some sort of village guard?" The inn keeper scoffed, "That boy is nothing but a liar and trouble maker. Don't mind anything he tells you."

Nami's eyebrow twitched while Zoro's cup of sake cracked in his hand and Luffy bit through a steak bone in anger.

THEY HAD BEEN TRICKED!

They spent the better half of the day looking for another entrance just because some brat lied to them!

There was something that was bothering Luffy for a while now. Earlier when they were shot at, he didn't hear any gunfire. This really made him wonder about what sort of fellow this Usopp is.

"I want to meet this Usopp guy. If he's cool, I want him to join my crew."

Nami smacked Luffy over the head. "No way! We don't need a liar like that on board." Luffy coughed out the fish bones that Nami nearly made him swallow and glared at her a bit. "Didn't you notice how there was no sound of gunfire while he shot at us? Also he hit us from so far away. If anything, he would make a great sharp shooter."

Zoro downed his sake and slammed it onto the table. "Luffy's right. There's no harm in checking out this Usopp guy. Luffy's a pretty good judge of character and it's up to him to decide who joins the crew."

Nami fumed a bit, "Fine, I'm only here to find treasure anyway. If he doesn't get in my way whatever then."

Luffy grinned, the tension vanishing. "Great it's settled then, let's find Usopp tomorrow!"

* * *

Usopp's frame shivered. He was so close, just a few more and he would be done.

48...

The tip of his nose touched the floor, bending slightly from the pressure.

49...

His arms trembled as he balanced his weight and pushed up.

50!

He finally completed fifty push ups!

"Boy, you're weak. Only fifty?" A disappointed voice cut in from the side. Usopp rolled to his feet and had his sling shot drawn back, a lead star loaded. "Show yourself!"

Leaning against the tree was a dark haired youth. The scruffy straw hat hid the stranger's eyes but showed the scar that ran beneath it. He looked like a hill billy tourist with the red vest and blue shorts. There was a wide grin on his face. "Nice to meet you Usopp, son of the pirate Yasopp."

The slingshot lowered. "Y-you k-know my father?"

* * *

Luffy was cuffing Usopp on the back, laughing as if they were life long friends. They were currently trading stories about Yasopp, some sort of sharp shooter, if Nami surmised correctly.

"And then he shot the whisker off a mouse from a hundred meters!"

Usopp laughed, "Yeah, he showed me too once! I was so surprised when he came back to Syrup Village with Shanks! It was just in time for him to see mother off... But he came back! He even taught me a few tricks about shooting and gave me some cool things!"

Luffy laughed. "No wonder you're shooting skills are so good. You were taught by the best!"

Usopp looked out the the sea wistfully. "I always admired him, being able to sail off to the unknown, risking his life for adventure. A brave warrior of the sea! I want to be like him to but I need to be strong." He looked at his bicep and tried flexing it. "But no matter what I'm doing, I'm just not getting any stronger."

Luffy shrugged. "Some people just aren't meant for physical power. You seem to be good at shooting, work with it from there. It's your specialized skill."

"So what are you here for Luffy?"

Luffy scratched his chin. "Well, I need a bigger ship and It would be great if you could join my crew!"

Usopp's smile was happy but a bit restrained. "Thanks a lot but there's something I have to protect here. I might be able to help you out with the ship though."

"Really?"

* * *

"Hey Kaya! These guys heard of my great reputation, and traveled far to see me. They are the new members of the Usopp pirate crew!"

Luffy laughed and punched Usopp in the face. "Don't be silly, you're the one who is going to join my crew!" He bowed politely. "Hello. My name is Luffy and can you lend us a big ship? I'll give it back to you after we sail around the world with it."

Kaya giggled, "Your new friend is funny Usopp."

Nami stepped forward, "Is there any way we can get a decent size ship around here?"

Kaya thought for a moment, "Well..."

"Whats going on?" It was the butler who had his hair slicked back and rimless glasses on his face. "Just who are all these ruffians ojou-sama?"

"Klahadore!"

"Leave the premise at once you pirates, you too trash of the seas, are you going to follow your father's footsteps and become a murderer?" The butler mocked. He sneered down at Usopp who was trembling in rage. Like a coiled rattle snake, Usopp struck.

_USSOOOPPPPP PUUUNNCH! _"Shut the hell up you bastard butler, my father is a brave warrior of the Sea!"

The strength training paid off, the force of the punch had shattered Klahadore's lens, pushing sharp shards of broken glass into the right eye. Kaya gasped at the blood and the horrific sight of the ruined eye. "LEAVE NOW USOPP! I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!"

Usopp looked pleadingly at Kaya but she pointed him to the exit, tears streaming from her eyes. Silently, he left. Luffy patted Usopp on the back, "You did the right thing and defended your honor. I'm sure she'll understand." Usopp tighten his bandanna and forced a smile, "Yeah, I'm sure she would."

* * *

Klahadore looked at the bandages covering his eye and snarled. He couldn't believe that he was half blinded now at the hands of some upstart teen. He grit his teeth and snarled. He was originally planning to force Kaya to sign her inheritance over to him so he could live off her wealth peacefully but the plan changed now. His blood was boiling for blood, death, and revenge. The anger inside him won't be sated until everyone in the village was dead.

It was time to contact the Black Cat pirates to raze the village to the ground.

* * *

Luffy and the others woke up to the sound of screaming and the smell of smoke. This familiar scent, the sound of screaming and burning wood. It was a pirate attack. He barged out of his room, Zoro was a step behind him alert and waiting. Nami also wandered in, wearing an indecent nightgown, blinking sleepily. Luffy quickly appraised the situation and gave several orders. "Zoro, look after Nami and get rid of any Pirates you can see. I'll take care of the rest. Meet up with me at Kaya's house." There was no indecision behind his words, it was an order.

Zoro rarely saw Luffy acting like this, there was a hard cold look in his eyes. The easy going Luffy was gone and in it's place was someone of authority and power. He nodded and took Nami with him, dashing through the woods to Kaya's house. Unfortunately, Luffy forgot about Zoro's habit of getting lost.

Luffy concentrated and released the air in his lungs. He felt the hidden bond, tying the shield to his existence. Within the shield, the boundless force of the ocean raged. And within that dark crushing pressure was the Cloud Gathering Sword. His hand pressed against the glass core and into it, reaching down into the dark depths. He pulled out the blade and flourished it, his Yata no Kagami taking it's original form with the black obsidian.

It was time to battle.

Luffy focussed on the screams and disappeared in a burst of speed. He reappeared behind a pirate who was ready to kill a young girl.

"Die."

Luffy decapitated the pirate and went to the next one. The young girl was prepared for death when the pirate in front of her was deprived of his head. Standing in front of her was her savior. He had an old looking chipped sword with a octagonal shield and reminded her of the warriors of the olden days. The only feature she could catch before he disappeared was the frayed Straw Hat he had on.

Meanwhile Nami was busy smacking Zoro over the head every time he tried to wander off in some random direction. "GODAMMIT HOW HARD IS IT TO RUN AFTER ME IN A STRAIGHT LINE?"

"It's not my fault your directions are so horrible!" Zoro shot back.

Nami deadpanned. "This is coming from the guy who turned 180 degrees and almost ran back to where we started?"

Zoro was about to deny the claims but he pulled Nami to a sudden stop, causing her to yelp in indignation. "Hey! What's the bi-"

_"Cat-a-pult!"_

In the darkness of the night, something big and heavy crashed in front of them where Nami would have been a second earlier. A round muscular pirate decked out in a cape and cat hat was at the point of impact, the floor beneath his foot was shattered and cracked.

_"What a strong blow." _Zoro thought as he untied his bandanna from his arm. It looked like he was going to have to be serious here. Nami noticed a blur slinking stealthily behind Zoro. "Behind you!"

Zoro instinctively reacted and stamped on the ground three times in rapid succession, propelling himself up and over. Flipping around in midair, he saw that a slim and tall fellow with cat claws had crept up behind him. Thankfully, he practiced Soru a bit. While it wasn't good enough for his movements to disappear, it was enough to be useful.

"Neh, he found out Buchi." The tall and skinny squeer said. "I almost crushed the girls head too Sham, that swordsman has fast reactions." The fat one stated. Zoro unsheathed all three swords, those two were no flunkies.

He dashed forward, blades flashing through the moon light. _Oni Giri!_

Zoro's demon slash bit through Sham's midriff and Buchi's chest. He kicked off the ground and jumped backwards in time to avoid two swipes. His judgement had been correct. Ever since his fight with Buggy, Zoro made it a habit to notice the smallest details. The cut on Sham had no substance behind it and Buchi was protected by too much fat and muscle for the blade to reach the vitals. He turned around and warded off their attempts to claw his eyes out and rip his entrails open. One of the was fast, the other was slow but landing heavy blows. Together their teamwork was phenomenal. Most people would overwhelmed by the fast and powerful combination but Zoro was no push over either.

He had no time to waste, he was already suppose to be at Kaya's house already. Luffy sent him ahead for some reason and he wasn't going to disappoint. He sheathed his Wadō Ichimonji and the other two in a blink of an eye and used soru to back step. Ever since training with Soru, there was a new move he wanted to try. He had the speed down but the power aspect still needed work. What he was about to do was risky.

He moved one of his sword to the other side and knelt low. Incorporating the basic Soru he learned and his natural strength, he unleashed his most powerful dual sword attack in a blink of an eye.

**Nitō-Ryū Iai: Rashōmon **(_Two Sword Style Draw and Resheath Technique: Castle Gate)_

Zoro drew his sword and re-sheathed them quickly after unleashing his attack. He reappeared behind them with both swords sheathed and knees in a kneeling position. It was a dual Lion's Song but in a diagonal cross cut. The attack held true, the two cat brothers fell into four bloody pieces to the floor. The two swords that he just sheathed were shattered. His cut was too unrefined to cut through bone properly. As a result, his blade paid the price and broke into pieces. Using an incomplete technique was too much for Zoro to handle. He was sure he had torn some muscles in his legs and the rapid quick draw damaged his shoulder muscles.

Ignoring the pain he stood up and looked at Nami. "Let's go."

* * *

Luffy felt his blood sing as he decapitated yet another pirate. The fifty pirates that invaded the town were now reduced to a mere twenty. They had finally noticed his presence after he killed about ten of their men. The fire and blood brought back painful memories but Luffy suppressed them and fought on. The most dangerous part about fighting is not about the enemies battle power. It's their overall fighting force.

The reason why the Marines are such a threat is due to the fact that they posses a vast fighting force numbering in the thousands. Everything has to be taken into account. From the number of men, to the number of weapons the enemies have available. For Luffy, fighting twenty opponents at once was no easy task. He was facing cut throat pirates, no trick is too dirty for them. This includes taking hostages.

Luffy took care of those scumbags first. Using Soru, he attacked the kidnappers holding hostages. He aimed for their knee, arm, and head. A missing limb is a pretty good distraction for releasing a hostage. While retreat was a viable option, Luffy could not abandon the innocent villagers. To fight properly, Luffy entered Gladiator mode. This was when he battled a war of attrition.

Using his shield, Luffy defended himself from each attack and cut down the opposing enemy using his sword. He slowly marched his way forward, taking on one opponent at a time. His opponents died with a shocked look on their face after their swords and stone hammer maces failed to even scratch the shield he was using. Also their swords and weapons were useless before his own. His sword cut through their iron katana like a hot knife through butter.

After ten more kills, the rest of the pirates threw down their weapon and begged for their lives. "Please, Spare our lives! We're sorry! We promise that we will never kill anyone ever again! Please save us!"

Luffy's arms and body were cloaked with blood, the flickering fire showed the shadows on his face as well as his intense glare. "What do you want me to do? Chop off a leg, or chop off an arm? That's the only way I can believe that you will never fight and kill again. If I find out you did continue your evil ways, I will cut off your other three limbs." His voice was cold and dark, and from the shadows of his straw hat, the pirates could see the steely resolve in his eyes.

The pirates were speechless. The young man in front of them was ruthless but that cruelty and anger formed into a sharpen blade, one that was pointed towards the pirate at the moment.

"If you don't make up your mind, I'll just go with the simple option and chop off your head." There was no compromise behind his words, only the promise of the pain to come. One brave men crawled forward and held out his left arm. The tears were steaming down his face, mixing with the snot."T-take my l-left arm!"

Luffy's blade flashed and the arm fell to the ground. The man let out a broken howl and collapsed from the pain.

"Next."

Luffy made sure each of them learned their lesson and paid the price for it with their flesh. After insuring the safety of the villagers, he set off to Kaya's mansion. In the darkness of the night, he could already see the fire in the distance.

Just exactly what had happened while he was cleaning up the mess?

* * *

Usopp raged and screamed beneath Kuro's foot at the mansion where everything was set ablaze and Kaya was still inside. Kuro bent down and showed Usopp a document. "You see this? This will transfer all of Kaya's property and liquid property over to me. Once they investigate and find out about her death, her last will takes effect, transferring all her funds to the loyal butler who came back from vacation." Next to Usopp was the bloody body of Jango, the hypnotist Kuro used to force Kaya to sign the will.

There was hate in Usopp's eyes. "You will never get away with this."

Kuro ripped off his eye patch and showed him the missing eye. "And who is going to stop me? I still have to pay you back for this. I'm going to to repay the favor." Kuro's katana claw was prepared to gouge out Usopp's eye but raised his claw up in time to deflect a heavy blow from Zoro who was using only his Wadō Ichimonji.

"I'll stop you here." Zoro grunted.

Kuro vanished and reappeared behind Zoro. _"Fast! It's almost as fast as Luffy with Soru!"_ He ducked down to dodge the swipe from the claws but fell prey to the kick that connected with his midriff. Kuro's abnormal leg strength sent Zoro flying through the wall of the burning house. His vision swam as he coughed out blood. If this was what Luffy's kick felt like, he never want to get hit by Luffy. Usopp had already taken the chance to run into the house to save Kaya while Kuro was occupied with Zoro.

Nami was watching the scene from the cover of the trees, She had to do something!

A hand clasped her shoulder, almost eliciting a shriek from her. It was Luffy but different then the one she normally associated with. This Luffy was dye red in the enemies blood and he commanded absolute authority.

"I'll take care of Kuro, find a way to get the others out of the house." Nami dashed off to find a safe way in and out while Luffy approached Kuro.

Kuro looked at Luffy. "More trash that needs to be swept up? Look here, I'm busy so if you get out of the way, I won't kill you." Luffy retracted the shield and sealed the sword. He needed the speed advantage here. "You might not have business with me but I have business with you."

"Oh and what might that be?"

Luffy gave him a cocky grin. "You hurt my friend so I'm going to pay you back a hundred fold."

"Can you do that?" Kuro whispered from behind Luffy.

"Yes I can." Luffy said from behind Kuro.

Kuro cursed inwardly, the boy was as fast as he was! _"Stealth Foot!" _This technique allowed Kuro to move at superhuman speed but the speed was too much for Kuro to take and he couldn't make out anything. Whatever he came across, he slashed indiscriminately. Slashes ran across the side of the house and trees, Luffy stood and took the slashes with Tekkai. Even then, his tekkai was not refined enough to take on Kuro's blade. His tekkai worked great for blunt trauma impact but as far as stopping swords, Luffy still needed more work.

"Why aren't you fighting back? Am I too fast for you?" Kuro taunted.

Luffy had his arms crossed defensively and maintained his tekkai. "No. I don't have to do anything. You will fall here and fade in history like you've always wanted."

* * *

Within the house, Usopp found Kaya coughing from underneath her bed. With her frail body, there's no way she could inhale anymore smoke. Zoro had the other butler on his back, his condition wasn't very good either. Usopp's mind was racing through what he remembered about the lay out of the area. There should be a wine cellar in the lower level! It was built so that even if a fire started on the first level, there would be no way for it to burn down into the cellar where the wine was!

He threw a wet blanket over Kaya and picked her up bridal style. "To the cellar! We can get out from there!" Glancing out of the window, he froze. Kuro was flickering in and out of view, while slashes rained down upon Luffy's still form. What would happen even if they got out of the house? That doesn't mean Kaya would be safe from Kuro. In fact, that would only give Kuro more incentive to kill her. He handed Zoro Kaya and faced the window. "You go ahead first, there's something I must settle."

Zoro grabbed him and shook him. "Don't be foolish! This house will burn down within minutes!" Usopp broke free, "AS A MAN, THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT I HAVE TO DO AND THIS IS ONE OF THEM." There was no doubt behind his words and Zoro knew he couldn't stop him. Zoro turned and left Usopp there. After making sure that Kaya was on her way to safety, Usopp pulled out his trusty slingshot and a lead star.

Under normal circumstances, a clear shot would be hard for anyone to pull off. But Usopp was disadvantaged by the blinding smoke and the wavering heat which obstructed his vision and depth perception. Also, his target was moving at an unfathomable speed, almost 100m/4s. His eyes could barely see the flickering form but deep within, he found himself looking with his mind's eye. Ignoring the feeling of the flames, he focused his sixth sense. The one that was most important to any sharpshooter. For the first time in his life, Usopp realized just how strong Luffy actually was.

In the past when he tried to utilize _**Mantra**_, he thought he was doing it incorrectly. He could not sense the drive or ambitions of his fellow villagers. But Luffy was the Sun, bright and overwhelming. It was astounding the amount of presence he had! Ignoring Luffy, he felt around for Kuro's presence. It was flickering in and out, almost non existent when next to Luffy but he sensed it. His concentration was being broken by the smothering smoke and hazy heat but he never stopped focusing on Kuro's flickering presence. Drawing the special rubber band back to it's full elasticity, Usopp aimed at an empty spot where he knew Kuro was going to be.

**Hissatsu ****Namari Boshi! **_(Sure-Kill Lead Star!)_

Usopp's shot whistled through the air to the point where Kuro was running 100m/4s and ran through Kuro's remaining eye. _**"AARRRGGGHHH!" **_Kuro screamed in agony and clutched his left eye where the pellet had gone in. Jumping from above, Usopp descended like a swooping hawk after a wounded prey.

_**"USOPP'S SMASHING HAMMER!"**_

Usopp smashed the full force of his weight and anger onto the back on Kuro's head. Even after Kuro slumped to the floor, facing the night sky, Usopp continued his assualt.

_"USOPP HAMMER! USOPP HAMMER! USOPP HAMMER! USO-!"_ A hand caught his wrist mid swing. It was Luffy with a serious look on his face. "He's already dead." Indeed Kuro had died, most likely from the first hit to the back of the head from above. The back of the skull was caved in unnaturally. The adrenaline wore off and Usopp hurled over the dead Kuro's face. It was his first kill.

"First kills are always hard but that means there will be a second one, a third. Did you kill him for fun? Did you feel any bit of remorse? The action makes the man, the regret breaks a man. So do not doubt, for that is strength."

Usopp's back was facing the flame, casting a dark shadow across his face. He stood up and faced Luffy. While Luffy could not see his expression, Usopp was standing with his back straight and proud.

"Let's see if the villagers are okay. We're going to meet up with Nami and the others. After that, we're going to get a ship and sail to the Grand Line."

"We?"

Luffy shot Usopp a devilish smile. "Of course it's us. We're nakama aren't we?"

There had been no prouder moment in his life. Tears streamed freely from his eyes and he shouted after Luffy.

"YES CAPTAIN!"

And thus Luffy gain another Nakama, his sharpshooter.

* * *

Omake

_The Lottery Lottery Fruit : Kagu Kagu no mi Part 4_

_Nami couldn't help but curl up in a ball, laughing her guts out. "Ha ha ha ha, Lu-Luffy! T-This is t-too much! I'm going to pee my pants!" Luffy was showing one of his more... party-type gases he could create. "This laughing gas is great at parties, they laugh at everything you do even if it's stupid, this way everyone is happy!" he said cheerfully._

_"That's a stupid trick!" Nami gasped out. The effect of the gas was finally wearing off. _

_"That's never going to work in a fight." She challenged._

_

* * *

_

_The pinkish cloud of gas hung heavily over the Black Cat Pirates who were currently laughing their asses off. Zoro and Nami had their gas mask on already. They soon learned that it was vital for their health to wear a gas mask 24/7. Luffy would sometime spontaneousness release some random gas._

_After binding their laughing forms, Luffy turned them merrily over to the town who called the Marines._

_Nami slapped down a thousand berri note on Zoro's hand and grumbled. She hated losing money. Luffy turned to Usopp energetically, "Why don't you join my crew? You can be our sharp shooter!"_

_Usopp edged away slowly, "Um. Thanks but, I got the I-will-die-if-I-leave-this-town-disease."_

_"No, you are joining my crew!"_

_A few blast of gas later, Usopp stumbled light headed after Luffy. The anesthesia had relaxed Usopp and made his susceptible to persuasion._

_He had a great sharpshooter now! _

_Usopp stumbled into a tree and giggled. A bit drugged up but beggars can't be choosers._

* * *

Sneak Preview:

_Nami smiled coyly at the assistant chef Sanji, "I'm wondering if I can have an order of everything on the menu. Everything seems so tasty here."_

_Sanjii had hearts in his eyes. "Of course my dear, I'll be right back with your food. Meanwhile, enjoy this Fruit in Macedonia along with Gran Mane wine." Nami fluttered her lashes at Sanji, "Wah, that's so gallant of you but the food here is a bit pricey..."_

_"No problem it's on the house." Sanji said whistling._

_"Man what a slag." Usopp chuckled. Sanji's expression darkened and he turned to Usopp menacingly, "What did you just say?" Usopp did what he did best, he lied through his teeth with a straight face and without blinking. "Oh I just said that man over there is a fag." Usopp pointed to Patty to prove a point. Sanji smirked, "Yeah that idiot is kind of a Fag."_

_Usopp snickered, Lying was really fun. After several particularly harsh beatings when he was young, Usopp learned that telling a believable lie was better than telling an outrageous one. It actually served a purpose by misleading other people with plausible and possibly true information._

_The food came and everyone started eating. Normally, Luffy would go wild by stuffing everything he saw on the plate in his mouth. Surprisingly, he took his time to slowly sample each dish. The rest of the gang looked at Luffy weirdly, "Is there something wrong with the food?"_

_"Yeah, it's too good. What is a cook of his level doing here?" Luffy pondered seriously. Noting their confused looks, he elaborated a bit more. "You know the saying 'We are what we eat', some cooks have applied that idea into their cooking. Their goal is to support the body by making dishes that build a strong body. Over the course of time, the muscles, bones, and five senses will be enhanced. At master level, their cooking can even promote longevity!"_

_"Wow, that's amazing. I never knew that was possible." Nami said in amazement. Her respect for Sanji had risen a notch. "Yeah, most of them would be on the Grand Line, or cooking for the rich/royalty. I want him for my crew." Luffy declared. Zoro glanced at Sanji who was shamelessly flirting with the other female patrons, "Do you really think he'll join us? He looks happy living his life here."_

_Luffy resumed his eating with gusto and shrugged, "If he is fated to join, then he'll eventually join our crew. It's destiny."_

_Just as he spoke those words, a dark shadow fell over the ship. Patrons panicked and ran to the window. What happened?_

_"Don Krieg! It's Pirate Armada Krieg's Galleon!" the screaming patron shouted._

_To be continued..._

_

* * *

_

SBS Corner

Start!

_Freddy_: Will Luffy ever use haki and kick ass?

_ES_: OF course, just not now in the East Blue. Sometime during the Grand Line definitely.

_Jason_: Are there going to be any New members joining the crew?

_ES_: I'm thinking of some, yes. Still have to decide what role.

_Sean_: What is Luffy's best Rokushiki skill?

_ES_: That would be Soru actually, followed by Tekkai.

_ItachiFan234_: Will Luffy get some cool dojutsu like the Sharingan?

_ES_: No. Only the Den-Den Mushi get an awesome dojutsu, the Rinnegan. Thats how they transmit information from so far away. Super power eyes.

OKAY! SBS CORNER ENDS FOR THIS TIME! SUBMIT MORE QUESTIONS!

* * *

A/N: WoW Usopp New and Improved! Many more changes to come. In my world of One Piece, Yasopp came back to Syrup town after he heard that his wife was dying and they were in the neighborhood. Yasopp taught Usopp the basics of Mantra and slowly, Usopp develops his sniper skills and techniques.

Next up, Sanji! What will be different about Sanji? Something major has happened to each and everyone of the crew. Can you guess what?

Is it his eyebrows?

Or is it his chivalrous attitude towards woman?

Give me ideas and suggestions!


	6. Chapter 6: Going Merrily to the Baratie

**One Piece: The Lottery Lottery Fruit!**

* * *

_Who in their right mind would gamble their power devil fruit power based on a lottery? Monkey D. Luffy did. It is said that crazy people have crazy luck. You have the Paramecia, the Zoan, the Logia, and the Mythical Zoan. Enter the long forgotten devil fruit. The Deity Deity Fruit : Model __**Xxxxxxx**_

_**

* * *

**_

Chapter 5: Going Merrily to the Baratie

The village was all but razed to the ground. When dawn broke and the villagers returned, they were met with the sight of smoldering ruins and dismembered bodies. Several of the more brave held back their dinners but most of them were dry heaving on the floor. The women were screaming and hiding the children from the horrific sight. Luffy picked up a dismembered arm and threw it to the growing pile of corpses.

"Why don't some of you come and help me stack these bodies? If we leave them here, they're going to rot and spread sickness and disease." Luffy said absentmindedly.

The rest of the villagers were put off by how callous the young man was about death. Meanwhile, Nami was checking the pile of dead bodies to see if any of them had bounties on their heads. "Oii Luffy! So three of them had bounties! Sham and Buchi has a five million Berri bounty apiece and Kuro has a 16 Million Berri bounty! We struck it rich!" Nami said as she jumped up in joy.

Luffy rubbed his chin, "Hmm, who is going to turn those bounties in? I'm a pirate so they won't give me the bounty money... How about you Nami?" Nami looked nervously to the side and laughed, "Well, I am a thief so... They're not really going to believe I beat these three."

Zoro withdrew his blade and sliced three times, cleanly cutting off the three bounty heads. "I'll do it. I have a history with bounty hunting and hopefully, we won't be registered as pirates after what happened at Shell Town."

"So that's 26 Million berries isn't it? 8 Million goes to Usopp for beating Kuro. 5 Million goes to Zoro for Sham and Buchi. The remaining thirteen Million berries will go to the our treasury!" Luffy declared. "That means we will have 13 Million berries to buy a new ship!"

Zoro tapped Luffy on the head with his katana, "Don't get to excited yet, Let's see if we can get the cash first." Luffy bopped his fist on his palm. "Right. So how do we turn these in anyway? Do we have to go to a Marine outpost or something?"

"Well, Since these three are dead, we might only get 70% of the total bounty. The marines like to parade their execution for the public to see but there is a chance we might still get the full bounty. We have to find a Marine outpost to turn them in though."

"Excuse me pirate-san?" Luffy, Zoro and Nami turned to the weak sounding voice. It was the butler who Zoro saved the other night. "After saving our town, Miss Kaya feels we should reward you most handsomely. I hear you're in search for a ship?"

"Yeah we are mister! Do you have one?"

Merry smiled. "I designed it myself, it might look a little odd but it's a real beauty."

Luffy whooped and threw the lit match behind him, setting the pile of corpse on fire. "We got a ship!"

* * *

Usopp was sitting in front of Kaya. The mansion was all but burned to a cinder, so they moved their residence to the guest house further into the woods. The silence was unbearable but neither knew how to break the ice. "So Usopp, I heard you k-ki...killed... Klahadore. Is it true?"

Usopp sat up straight and looked at Kaya. "I did. For you, I'll kill him a thousand times if it meant you'll be safe."

Kaya leaned forward and hugged him, shedding tears. "Usopp."

He breathed in her scent and hugged her back. "Kaya."

"HEY USOPP WE GOT A SHIP!" The door was kicked open with a bang and Luffy charged in. Usopp was counting the scratches on the floor while Kaya was counting the cracks in the ceiling. Both were extremely red in the face.

Usopp mentally growled. _"Luffy that cockblocker."_

"Hey Usopp, stop counting the cracks on the floor and lets go! We have a ship now!" Luffy exclaimed. "Where are we going? I didn't even pack yet!"

Luffy pulled out a map and gave it to Usopp. "We're going to Shell Town first, then we're heading to the Grand Line!" Usopp saw that Shell Town was in the opposite direction of Logue Town. "So why are we going to Shell Town?" Luffy gave a grin. "We're going to turn in the bounties for Berries!" He bowed politely to Kaya. "Thank you for the ship. We're going off on awesome adventures now."

Kaya giggled. "Don't worry mister Luffy, you and your crew saved our town, we cannot thank you enough."

"Alright Usopp, Meet up with us in three hours. Take your time giving Kaya your 'farewell'." Luffy winked at the last part and gave him the getchu' fist. The one with the thumb sticking out between the index and middle finger. He laughed at both their red faces and closed the door behind him.

Kaya and Usopp both gave each other shy glances. Usopp always was lacking in courage but the voice inside his head told him that if he did not kiss her now, he was going to regret it. So he swept her into his arms and kissed her passionately. As she reciprocated, he wonder what the voice was.

_"I am Sogeking." _

Usopp ignored the voice when Kaya started unbuttoning his shirt. Alter-egos and odd voices are going to have to wait.

* * *

Three hours later, Usopp walked to the slope in a daze. The last two hours had been amazing. Apparently when one was sickly and bedridden, there was nothing better to do than to read steamy romance novels. Kaya had a lot of kinky fantasies she wanted to try out and Usopp didn't mind it one bit.

He gave a cheesy grin. "I'm a Man now!" he declared. Unfortunately for him, he was withing Luffy's range of hearing.

There was raucous laughter from Luffy who had heard what he said and was slapping his knee in a fit. He gave Usopp a hidden smile, "Here comes our Sharpshooter! Now lets unveil the ship!"

The sheet was pulled back and Luffy cheered.

"May I present to you, The Going Merry! It's a caravel ship with a rudder. It's a fairly popular ship to use."

"It's kinda cute with the sheep head." Nami mused. "It's a good ship." Zoro stated. "By the way Usopp, why is your overalls put on inside out?" Usopp looked down and cursed, in his daze he put it on reverse. "Well, I forgot to do my laundry so I had to turn it over so I could wear it twice." Luffy nodded sagely. "I ran out of boxers once and turned my underwear inside out and wore it for another day like that too!" Nami chopped him on the head. "Disgusting!"

Usopp snickered as they took in his lie. He still had the knack for lying.

"Thanks a lot Merry-ossan! We'll take care of the ship really well! NOW STRAW HAT PIRATES! LET'S SET SAIL!"

Nami adjusted their course for Shell Town and unfurled the sails.

It was time for Luffy to visit an old friend.

* * *

Luffy wanted to put up their pirate flag right away but Nami talked him out of it. Going into a Marine base with a pirate flag flying was just asking for trouble. Lying backwards on the head of Going Merry, Luffy spotted Shell Town through his binoculars.

"Ah I see it!" Zoro grinned. "This sure brings back memories. I wonder how Coby is doing."

Nami looked at them both. "So this is where you two met? Who is this Coby?" Luffy's eyes lit up. "Yeah! Zoro was imprisoned and I saved his butt!" Zoro kicked Luffy in the face. "Not really. Let's just say a lot of things happened and our good friend Coby joined the marines shortly afterward."

They docked at the harbor and made their way through town. Excited whispers ran through the crowd as they talked about the fellow in the straw hat the the swordsman.

"Zoro-nii! Luffy-nii! You guys came back!" A young girl in pigtails pushed her way through the crowd and hugged Zoro's knee. It was Rika.

Her wide innocent eyes looked at Nami and Usopp. Her mouth was open in amazement. "Wow this onee-san is so pretty!" Nami smiled kindly at the girl's honest admiration. Rika turned to Usopp. "And I never seen such a long nose before. I thought Pinocchio was only a story!"

Usopp had an enraged look on his face. "My name is Usopp! Not Pinocchio!"

The little girl laughed, "Pinocchio always tells lies so it's okay."

Usopp started crying, "It's not okay."

"Hey Rika, where's Coby? He's at the Marine base right?" Zoro asked.

The little girl fidgeted a little. "Um...Well, he kinda left yesterday..." Luffy was shocked. Why would Coby leave? Wasn't his dream to be a marine and to uphold justice?

"He went with Helmeppo to Marineford to train under Vice-Admiral Garp."

Luffy stumbled over to Rika with a haunted look onhis face and grabbed both her shoulders and asked her seriously. "Vice-Admiral Garp. Is he gone?"

She nodded her head. "Uh-huh. They left yesterday." Luffy sighed in relief. If his grandfather found out he had became a pirate, he was in for a beating. Luffy shuddered at the though of a haki infused punch. Lord have mercy.

"Wow! You mean Garp the Hero? The one who cornered Gold Rodger?" Nami exclaimed. "Whats a celebrity like him doing here in East Blue?"

"It doesn't matter. Anyhow, let's see if we could get the bounties traded in. The blood starting to leak through the bag."

Nami smacked her staff across Zoro's face for talking about decapitated heads in front of a little girl and turned to Rika, "Ignore him Rika, We'll catch up with you later before we leave."

The girl nodded enthusiastically. "I'll make my special Onigiri for Zoro-nii then!"

A light bulb appeared on top of Luffy's head. "You mean the one with all the dirt and stuff?" This time, it was Zoro's turn to smack him. "No you idiot, the one with sugar!"

* * *

Zoro dropped the the brown bag down in front of the Marine Officer. "It's the pirate hunter Zoro! You're back!" The marine base was in an uproar to see Zoro and Luffy again. "We're just trying turn in some bounties. What can I get for these three." Zoro said calmly.

They opened the bag and found the heads of the Neko Brothers of the black Cat Pirates. "SHAM AND BUCHI of the Black Cat pirates. Did you get Jango too?" Then they took a look at the third head. "Who is this?"

"It's Kuro of 100 plans."

The marines exchanged looks. "But Kuro was executed a few years ago, he was caught by Morgan... Wait, Maybe Morgan lied about capturing Kuro too! Let's check the Bounty poster picture!" They brought a stack of posters and flipped through it until they found Kuro's with a big X over the picture. "There's no doubt, this is the real Kuro!"

"So um, who will be claiming the bounty?" The marines asked. They needed a name to associate with the bounty. Zoro quirked an eye. "That would be me of course. Zoro the Pirate hunter. There's no problem right?"

The marines shook their heads gratefully. "Of course not sir! After you and Luffy saved our town from Morgan, we only reported it that you were held without reason by Morgan and Luffy helped reveal Morgan's corruption. You two didn't really do anything wrong yet so we have no reason to report you as pirates."

"Oh, that makes things interesting." Zoro was given a briefcase full of cash. "Here you go Zoro sir. We only have Ten Million Berries at hand, the rest we can give you vouchers for. I wish you and Luffy-san Luck on your voyage!" They saluted gratefully at him and Zoro gave them a brief wave in return and left.

The others were waiting outside. "How'd it go?"

He grinned and held up the briefcase, "It went better than expected Ten Million in cash, the rest in vouchers. Luffy, There is something you need to know. We're not pirates yet." Luffy squawked indignantly. "Of course we're pirates!" Zoro shook his head, "No you dolt, what I meant was we are registered as pirates yet. On the official reports, I'm a bounty hunter and you are my partner."

"Wait Luffy, before you rage about being a pirate, it's actually a good thing the marines don't think of us as pirates." Nami said, trying persuade Luffy before he blew his top. "If the Marines don't treat us as a threat, that means we can go on adventure uninterrupted and do whatever we want without having people chase us for our bounties!"

Luffy thought about it for a bit. "Fine. But we are still putting up the pirate flag."

Usopp shrugged, "There's no use convincing him Nami. He's a pirate through and through." Let's meet up with Rika, restock and leave."

They made their way back to Rika's house where her mother warmly welcomed them. Knowing Luffy's appetite, she made enough for fifteen people. Luffy ate nine servings and burped. "That was awesome. We really got to get a cook. I'm tired of eating dried meat all the time."

Nami pondered for a bit, "Well, we do have a nice kitchen on the ship. We could hire somebody to cook for us."

Luffy bowed to Rika's mother. "Thank you for the meal Ma'am. Here's some money in gratitude." Luffy pulled out a wad of cash and dropped it on the table. It was 10,000 Berries.

"This is too much!" The mother exclaimed.

Zoro grinned, "It's enough. Rika makes the best rice balls ever."

She bowed to them. "Thank you! I wish you the best on your journey."

Luffy smiled widely, "I'll definitely come back here when I sail the entire world." Outside Luffy bumped into two men, one of them fell to the floor and started coughing up blood. "Yosaku! Are you okay? WHO DARES INJURE MY BROTHER!"

Zoro 's eyes widened in recognition. "Johnny? Yosaku?"

The man in shades and a tattoo on his face turned to Zoro. "Zoro-nii! Can it really be?"

"What happened to Yosaku?" Johnny started weeping and blubbering. "He was fine until a few days ago. His teeth suddenly started falling out and his old wounds started bleeding again. I don't know what to do!"

Name shook her head. "You idiots, he has scurvy! You probably didn't have any vegetable or fruits with you when sailing right?" Johnny pulled out a bundle of dried jerky from his inner pocket and grinned weakly. "I guess Jerky doesn't have vitamin C?"

She walked over to a vendor and bought some freshly squeezed Lemonade. Pouring the entire jug down Yosaku's throat, he jumped up fully recovered. "Stay down! Scurvy isn't cured so fast!" Nami reprimanded.

Usopp remarked, "This is a good lesson for us too. I didn't know that if we don't balance our diets on long journeys, we can get sick easily. What we really need in our crew is a chef." "But will a chef really be able to handle the rough life of piracy?" Nami asked.

"Sempai! We know of a place if you're looking for a place. It's called the Baratie, a restaurant ship with strong chefs!" Johnny added in.

"Alright then, let's go there and get some grub, maybe if they're cool, we'll take one with us on our journey!" Luffy cheered.

"Also sempai, I hear the Hawk-eye man you're looking for showed up there too, you might meet him." Zoro gripped his katana tightly, could it really be?

Hawk-Eyes Mihawk. The world's strongest swordman.

"Let's go to the baratie." Zoro grinned savagely.

* * *

"Wow it's a fish shaped restaurant. This is my first time seeing one." Luffy was the first one to spot the restaurant. After being stubborn about putting up a pirate flag, they somehow convinced him that tying a real pirate up on the mast was just as good as a pirate flag. Luffy believed them and for once, the rest of the crew had some quiet while Luffy commented on everything he saw from his place up in the mast.

Nami kept to herself, flipping through a list of bounties of the East Blue. Zoro was training with his weights, using his legs to push up two hundred pound weights while doing a handstand. He was training his leg strength after he witnessed Luffy lift a three hundred pound weight easily with his foot.

Usopp put away the new bullet he was working on and gathered the rest of the crew when they saw the Baratie ahead. They untied Luffy who promised not to cause any trouble and entered the restaurant. Johnny and Yosaku decide to stay on the ship to rest. Once they entered, they were immediately greeted by an clean shaved man with fruity eyelashes. He smiled upwardly at the ceiling and crossed his huge forearms, "Welcome Mr Octopus head!"

Everyone turned to Zoro who balked in defense, "What are you looking at me for?" They shrugged, "Nothing." Inside they were all thinking,"Marimo."(Moss-head) Luffy immediately grabbed a menu and ordered everything on the list. The waiter that was serving them was flirting with Nami and ignored Luffy's attempt to try everything on the menu. Nami smiled coyly at the assistant chef Sanji, "I'm wondering if I can have an order of everything on the menu. Everything seems so tasty here."

Sanjii had hearts in his eyes. "Of course my dear, I'll be right back with your food. Meanwhile, enjoy this Fruit in Macedonia along with Gran Mane wine." Nami fluttered her lashes at Sanji, "Wah, that's so gallant of you but the food here is a bit pricey..."

"No problem it's on the house." Sanji said whistling.

"Man what a slag." Usopp chuckled. Sanji's expression darkened and he turned to Usopp menacingly, "What did you just say?" Usopp did what he did best, he lied through his teeth with a straight face and without blinking. "Oh I just said that man over there is a fag." Usopp pointed to Patty to prove a point. Sanji smirked, "Yeah that idiot is kind of a Fag." Then Sanji headed off to prepare their food personally.

Usopp snickered, Lying was really fun. After several particularly harsh beatings when he was young, Usopp learned that telling a believable lie was better than telling an outrageous one. It actually served a purpose by misleading other people with plausible and possibly true information.

The food came half an hour later and everyone started eating. Normally, Luffy would go wild by stuffing everything he saw on the plate in his mouth. Surprisingly, he took his time to slowly sample each dish. The rest of the gang looked at Luffy weirdly, "Is there something wrong with the food?"

"Yeah, it's too good. What is a cook of his level doing here?" Luffy pondered seriously. Noting their confused looks, he elaborated a bit more. "You know the saying 'We are what we eat', some cooks have applied that idea into their cooking. Their goal is to support the body by making dishes that build a strong body. Over the course of time, the muscles, bones, and five senses will be enhanced. At master level, their cooking can even promote longevity!"

"Wow, that's amazing. I never knew that was possible." Nami said in amazement. Her respect for Sanji had risen a notch. "Yeah, most of them would be on the Grand Line, or cooking for the rich/royalty. I want him for my crew." Luffy declared. Zoro glanced at Sanji who was shamelessly flirting with the other female patrons, "Do you really think he'll join us? He looks happy living his life here."

Luffy resumed his eating with gusto and shrugged, "If he is fated to join, then he'll eventually join our crew. It's destiny."

Just as he spoke those words, a dark shadow fell over the ship. Patrons panicked and ran to the window. What happened?

"Don Krieg! It's Pirate Armada Krieg's Galleon!" the screaming patron shouted. The Baratie had gone dark, being covered in the shadow of a massive ship.

Sanji calmly smoked his cigarette, "That ship looks so weathered, It must have been through some sort of natural disaster." Indeed, the massive Galleon ship was raggedy and on the verge of falling apart. The doors to the baratie banged open and two men entered.

The smaller of the two was dragging the larger man over his shoulder and he turned to Sanji, "Please, give us some food! If it's money we have a lot of it!" The homo-looking cook laughed at Gin and Krieg, "Bastards like him deserve to be executed, I'm not giving you a scrap of food! Let's call the Marines, they might even give me a bounty for turning Don Krieg in!" Krieg bowed his head pitifully to the floor and groveled. "Please, Even one particle of food. I'm so hungry."

"Here."

"Here."

Luffy and Sanji looked at each other in surprised. Sanji was handing Krieg a plate full of fried rice and Luffy was giving him a steak at the same time. They looked at each other in the eye and saw a glimpse of each others past. The common enemy know as hunger. Nami and Usopp gasped, "What are you doing! That's Don Krieg, the trickiest and most vile bastard in the East Blue."

Patty chimed in. "Sanji, normally I would let it slide when you feed poor starving people but Krieg is different. He used to be a prisoner before escaping and masquerading as a Marine! He would pretend to be a marine and then attack unsuspecting towns or even raise the white flag for surrender only to suddenly attack. That man is a deviant liar!"

Sanji shrugged. "My job as a cook is to feed the hungry. If i see a hungry person, I will feed him, no questions asked." Luffy nodded. Sanji was a great cook. He really understood what food meant. He probably endured a time of starvation to a greater degree than even his own. When he was younger, His grandfather abandoned him on some remote island and left him their to survive on his own. It was a truly horrendous island, where the plants were mostly poisonous and inedible. Their was little rain or clean water and all the animals were bigger than him, making them impossible to hunt. He went a long time without food but in the end, he learned to survive in the wild and hang onto life until his grandpa came back.

Those were the days of horror, he had never gone so long without any meat. Luffy saw Krieg tense up and knew what was coming. He dropped low and swept Sanji's feet from underneath him, just in time for Krieg's clothesline to pass by where Sanji's neck was. Krieg sneered at the missed attack.

Gin grabbed Krieg's cloak and protested. "You said you won't hurt them!" Krieg gripped Gin's shoulder in a tight grip, making Gin release his cloak. He peered down his sharp nose to look down at Sanji and Luffy. "It's a nice restaurant, I'll take it."

"Screw you Krieg, you had your food, here's desert! MEATBALL CANNON!" Patty had pulled out a mini-Bazooka that looked like a lobster and blasted a Cannonball at Krieg. It contacted with his chest and exploded, sending Krieg blasting through the doors. Much to the chefs horror, Krieg stood up unaffected, revealing the armor that protected him from the blast. He spit on the floor in contempt. "The dessert was a bit heavy for my taste. IMPUDENCE!"

Guns concealed by his armor popped out and fired simultaneously. Bullets riddled the group of chefs, leaving many of them bleeding in pain. Krieg flexed his muscles and bragged. "These powerful arms and Iron body, and Fist of Diamonds that can pulverize anything! I'm the strongest man with 50 ships and over 5,000 men! When I give orders. no one dare says NO! Now prepare me food for a hundred men!"

The head cook with a peg leg dropped a huge bag in front of Krieg. "Fugutives from the Grand Line, How pitiful. Take this food, there's enough for a hundred men." Krieg stared at the man in shock. "You're Red-Legs Zeff!"

"So what if I am? My days of Piracy are over, I'm just a simple chef. Now take this food and skaddle off." Krieg leered. "You were forced to retire it seems. What happened to the days when your legs were coated with the blood of you enemies? Your kick can destroy a cliff and leave imprints in Iron! To see you fall this low but no matter. I WANT YOUR JOURNAL! THE ONE THAT SPEAKS OF YOUR TIMES ON THE GRAND LINE!"

Zeff flipped Krieg the finger. "Screw you. The journal is the pride of my crew, I'll never give it to you." Krieg turned purple with anger and lept at Zeff, "DIE ZEFF! I'LL TAKE IT FROM YOUR DEAD BODY!"

Sanji jumped into action and intercepted Krieg with a sharp kick to the neck. Krieg veered off track and crashed onto one of the nearby tables. He stood up again and flexed his neck calmly. "I'll kill you first."

Sanji smirked and balanced himself on the floor with his hands, lashing out with his feet. His foot caught Krieg right under the chin but Krieg took the blow and clasped Sanji's leg with an iron grip. Lifting him up with one hand, Krieg delivered a brutal blow to Sanji's stomach with his diamond encrusted fist, breaking ribs. Sanji coughed out blood, gasping in pain. Krieg flung him away where he tumbled to a stop in front of Luffy's feet.

Krieg turned to Zeff when they all heard the sound of a blade slashing through the air. "What happened?" Krieg had a fearful look on his face and Gin was shaking. "My Flagship! It's listing!" Indeed, Krieg's giant Galleon ship was cut cleanly in three pieces and parts of it were sinking into the watery depths."

Luffy, Zoro, and Usopp dashed out to drop the anchor for the Going Merry, otherwise it would be dragged into the huge whirlpool formed by the listed ship. Outside, they found Johnny and Yosaku swimming pitifully. "What happened?"

Johnny started crying. "It's horrible. Nami pushed us overboard and stole the treasure along with the ship!" Zoro, Usopp, and Luffy stared in disbelief. "WHAT DID YOU SAY!"

Luffy peered off into the distance. "Hey! I can still see the ship! Usopp, Zoro, go after it!" Zoro sighed. "Forget it, she's not worth it." Usopp was protesting since the ship was from Kaya. Luffy stepped in and said with an air of finality. "No, I only want her to be our navigator, Nobody else."

"!"

Zoro relented and kneaded his temple. "Fine. Fine. We'll bring her back. Let's go Usopp." Just as he was about to depart, a small coffin shaped raft a lit with green candles drifted into sight. Aside from the green flames from the candle light, the lone man sitting on board drew more attention. He had eyes with a piercing gaze like a hawk.

Gin screamed in aunguish and frustration. "WHY ARE YOU HERE MIHAWK? WHY DID YOU FOLLOW US FROM THE GRAND LINE! WHAT DID WE DO TO YOU?"

The greatest swordsmen in the world simply glanced at him with a piercing gaze. "For fun of course, but you guys did wake me up from my nap."

From what Zoro could observe, Dracule Mihawk is a tall and lean man with a short beard and sideburns pointing upwards. He has a crucifix pendant, giving him the appearance of a Spanish swordsman. His attire consists of a wide-brimmed black hat decorated with a large plume, and a long, open black coat, with red, flower-patterned sleeves and collar.

His large sword, which he keeps on his back at times when not in use, has a curved black blade, and is also in the shape of a crucifix, with a golden hand guard decorated by red gems, and an hilt wrapped in bandages, with a particularly big bead at his extremity. In addition, he wears white pants held up by a decorated belt and tucked inside overly large boots in comparison to his leg size.

Zoro watched as Mihawk deflected a bullet with surprising grace and gentleness. Without a doubt, this was the strongest swordsman in the world. "Sorry Luffy, I have to fight this man. Usopp head off with Johnny and Yosaku and find Nami."

Luffy was deadly serious for once. "You do realize that Mihawk is on a whole different level than us right?"

Zoro nodded. "But I can't step back, not when my goal is right in front of me. This is the reason for my living. I have to beat this man."

Luffy leaned back into the shadows. "Fine, I can't stop you anyway. I promise not to step in during the match but you better not die."

Zoro made his way towards Mihawk. "I heard you needed to kill time? Why don't you fight me then?"

Mihawk glanced sideway at Zoro. "You weakling. Even the strongest of swordsmen dare not fight me. They can estimate their power and compare it to mine and realize how futile it is to fight me. Does your challenge come from the bravery of your heart? Or the foolishness of your arrogance?"

Zoro unsheathed his Wadō Ichimonji and placed it in his mouth. "Neither. This challenge comes from my ambition and a promise to a friend."

Mihawk pulled off the cross and pulled off the bottom portion to reveal a small blade, no longer than a finger.

"What are you doing?" Zoro asked angrily.

"I'm not the type to hunt rabbits with cannons. For someone from the East Blue, the weakest of the Seas, this is the smallest blade I got."

Zoro dashed forward, his eyes focused into needlepoints. "Don't regret it when you die then!"

_"ONI...GIRI!"_

One of his strongest three bladed sword techniques was brought to a sudden and forceful stop when Mihwak blocked all three of his blades with the small dagger. In a split second, Mihawk had seen through the technique and found the one small weakness. There is a small frame of movement where all three blades would come together at a point.

After that moment, the three blades would have three different attack paths, making it hard for the opponents to deal with the three blades but Mihawk stopped the blades single handedly with one small dagger! And as much as he strained, he could not even budge Mihawk one inch.

_"IMPOSSIBLE!"_

He pulled back and unleashed a barrage of fierce blows, all of which where blocked and parried by Mihwaks puny dagger. One strong blow from Mihawks dagger which he blocked sent him heel over heads. He got back up again and attacked, only to be knocked over again. Refusing to give up, he engaged Mihawk again but this time he was not as patient.

Mihawk lunged through Zoro's Tiger Hunt slash and stabbed him deeply in the chest. When Zoro did not step back, Mihwak questioned him. "Do you want this knife to go through your heart? Why are you not stepping back?"

Zoro gave him a bloody grin. "I don't know myself but if I take a step back, it would feel like I can never stand before you again and ask for a fight."

"Yes. That is what we call 'Losing'."

"That's why I'd rather die than to lose. I will not break my promise to the friend."

_"What a strong will. He rather die than to live with regrets. This kid will go far."_Mihawk thought.

"What is your name kid?" Mihwak asked.

"Roronoa Zoro."

"I will remember that name. I haven't met someone with a strong will like yours in a while. To honor that, I will use this Kokutou Yoru(The Black Blade), the strongest sword in the world, to end your life." Mihwak declared, finally unstrapping the sword from his back.

The blade is ornately decorated, about 7 feet long and shaped like a crucifix with a shiny black blade, which is curved at the end. It had an incredible range and the darkness of the Metal deminded him of Luffy's shield.

**Santōryū Ougi - Sanzen Sekai **(_Three-Sword Style Secret Technique: Three Thousand Worlds_)

Zoro helds up his other two swords at about 120 degree angle against each other and rotated them rapidly while running towards his Mihwak to create momentum; he sliced up full speed and power to no avail.

Mihwak's eyes widen at the sight of the technique. There were over two thousand- no, three thousand sword deviations and paths the technique could take on. It was unbelievable that someone in the East Blue could have such an advanced technique. But sadly, Zoro's speed was not fast enough and Mihwak could tell the path of the sword.

Mihawk met the attack dead on and the resulting impact broke two of Zoro's Katana and left a gash across his chest. Thankfully, his Wadō Ichimonji was unbroken. He knew it then that he lost. Sheathing his sword, he turned around with his arms spread wide open.

Mihawk looked questioninly at Zoro. "What are you doing?"

Zoro grinned weakly. "Wounds on a back are a swordman's shame."

Mihwak grinned. "Very well." He adjusted the grip on his sword and swung down, cutting deep through Zoro's torso. A huge cut ran from shoulder to hip diagonally and Zoro fell backwards into the sea where his blood turned the water red.

**"ZORO!"**

Luffy unsealed his Ten Notch sword and used soru to cross over the body of water to where Mihawk was. He swung his sword down at Mihawk who blocked with the black sword. Upon contact the blades emited a horrific screeching as they fought each other for dominance. Mihawk was looking at the old and chipped blade in surprise.

The Kokutou Yoru was nicked from the attack. Mihawk channeled **Busōshoku Haki** into his sword to reinforce the steel. He pulled back and lashed out, slicing the mysterious blade off near the handle. Whatever unknown sword it was, it was incomplete.

Luffy looked down at his Cloud Gathering Sword in shock. The bladed section was sliced off and currently lodged onto the floor of the ship.

Mihawk look down at the young man in the straw hat. "Your blade is strong but the wielder is weak. It is a shame for such a sword to die by your hands."

Luffy was ready to send Mihawk flying but Johnny and Yosaku dragged Zoro up. Zoro was alive. While Johnny was frantically pouring whiskey onto the large wound to disinfect it, Zoro held his prized sword up.

"Luffy! Until I beat that man and become an invincible swordsman, I WILL NEVER LOSE AGAIN!" He vowed.

Mihawk laughed. "That's right Roronoa Zoro, Travel the seas and grow strong, strong enough to one day surpass ME! I WILL STAND AT THE SUMMIT. DARE TO CHALLENGE ME AGAIN!"

He stepped back onto his raft. "You two make a good team, I hope I'll see you again." He said to Luffy.

Luffy nodded. "I will be the ruler of the Sea so it's a given." Luffy was still a little bitter about his sword though.

Meanwhile, Krieg showed his ingenious survival skills by trying to stop Mihawk from leaving. Mihawk slashed his blade and cut the ship into even more pieces and sailed off quietly. After that excitement, Krieg was not even worth the effort to kill.

After Luffy watch Johnny Yosaku and Usopp sail off safely with Zoro, he turned to Sanji. "Hey, join my crew. We're going to the Grand Line and we need a Chef."

Sanji was smoking although his ribs were broken. "Hell no. I'm going to inherit this restaurant after old man Zeff dies."

Luffy pointed at Krieg, "What is going to be left after that guy takes it? Don't you have another dream beside this restaurant?" Sanji was not persuaded. "Zeff, he even ate his foot for me, just so we can survive. I can't repay that kindness by leaving him and going off to chase some foolish dream of mine. I'm not even sure if the All-Blue is out there."

Luffy thought for a bit. "Hey. If I get rid of Krieg, Will you join my crew?"

"I'll consider it."

Luffy picked up the broken blade and sealed it again. "Great. This will be done in a jiffy."

He pointed at Krieg. "Hey you! Muscle freak. Get the hell outta here or die."

Krieg laughed, "Who is this country bumpkin? He thinks he can take on Krieg? Try this for a size!" Krieg was impatient. His men were currently starving and he wanted to rid the Baratie of resistance. Normally, he would save the MH5 poison gas for taking over small towns but he couldn't afford be stingy at the moment. Propping his shoulder guard, a circular opening slid open to reveal a minature launcher.

**"MH5!"**

Krieg launched a small spherical canister, trailing ominous purple gas at the Baratie. Luffy jumped forward and kicked it up into the air but this time, the projectile broke into pieces instead of exploding, releasing more of the gas. Luffy was caught by surprise and inhaled the gas. Feeling the burn in his throat and eyes, he shouted out a warning to the rest. "GET BACK, IT'S POISON GAS!" The others took heed and went to the back end of the restaurant but that wasn't going to be enough. The gas would eventually spread to the back to where Sanji was.

He coughed once more before jumping into action. Unleashing a flurry of high speed kicks and spins, he started launching multiple Tempest kicks.

**Rankyaku **is a technique that creates a powerful projectile air blade by kicking at high speed and strength. Luffy did not see the need to use such a technique up until this point but he had to clear the gas somehow and the wind produced by the force of his kicks were quickly dispersing the gas. Completing a final tornado kick, he collapsed to the ground coughing out blood. It was a bad idea to move while poisoned, the rankyaku he performed only accelerated the poison in his body. He had to end the fight quickly and get an antidote.

Krieg was shocked to see his MH5 poison being blown away by the force of the young man's kick. What shocked him even further was the kicks created a powerful distortion in the air that traveled like a crescent blade. It impacted against his Iron Wootz armor with incredible force and left deep gouges in the armor. He pushed aside his fear, the Straw Hat brat inhaled the gas and had one foot in his grave already.

He flicked his wrist and used his flame thrower to burn the boy to a crisp, the battle had gone on for too long. Luffy however, wasn't going to sit around to be barbecued by Krieg. He dashed into the flames head on with his feet. Using the centrifugal motion from the jump, he diverted the flames so it gathered around his right foot.

He gave a final twist and executed a textbook perfect vertical kick with the force of a charging bull and the power of an exploding cannon. Aided with the flames from the attack, his vertical kick to Kriegs chest left an imprint the the armor as the iron Wootz armor literally sunk into Krieg's chest.

The kick left his feet horribly burned but he just ended the fight by literally stomping in the man's chest. Krieg was as dead as a doornail. Luffy collapsed on the floor panting, trying to regulate his breathing to lessen the flow of poison. Sanji immediately approached Krieg and rifled through the mans belongings. Krieg indeed did have the antidote to the poison on his person and Sanji wasted no time administering it to the Baratie's Savior. Luffy gave him a grateful smile. "Does this mean you're joining my crew?"

Sanji leaned back, favoring his ribs. "That depends of course if that Nami chick is still with your crew. I won't join if it's a total sausage fest you know."

Luffy frowned. "What does a sausage feast have to do with Nami? A sausage feast is good."

Sanji sweat dropped. Maybe he should reconsider joining Luffy after all but he did say he would consider. His dream to find the "All Blue" was still in his heart and Luffy was the type that would go far, not to mention having The Pirate Hunter Zoro on the team. Maybe the "All Blue" won't be a dream after all.

* * *

Sanji parted on good terms with Zeff and the rest of the Chefs. Zeff was gruff in his farewell but Sanji could tell that the old man really cared. Bowing his head to the floor, he said his heartfelt thoughts. "Honor Zeff! Thank you for everything you've done for me! I WILL NOT FORGET YOU FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!" Sanji was about to sail off to the Grand Line, the graveyard of pirates. There was a chance he might not come back and he wanted the old man to know that he would forever be in his memories.

The heart warming moment was ruined when something with a human's upper body and a fish's lower body jumped onto the ship they were preparing to set sail on.

Luffy prodded the still form. "Cool, Yosaku turned into a mermaid!"

Sanji smacked him over the head. "Idiot! It's that bounty hunter friend of yours and he's getting chewed on by a Panda Shark!"

"Oh."

"..."

After Luffy and Sanji pried the shark off Yosaku, he told Luffy about where Nami was headed. "The place where she's going is very dangerous! You know that there's three reasons why the Grand Line is called the pirate's graveyard right? One of them is the **Shichibukai**, The Seven Warlord of the Seas. They are pirates recognized by the World Government and they are allowed to be pirates as long as they give some commission to the government and follow orders. They may be the Government's dogs but they are crazy strong! Mihawk is one of them. Can you imagine seven Mihawks wandering around?"

The bounty hunter shuddered. "The problem is the area that Nami is heading to right now is Arlong Park! Arlong is the leader of the Fishmen Pirates and is said to be of equal strength to Jimbei, one of the Shichibukai!" Even as Yosaku worked himself into an aneurysm, Luffy just shrugged. "No point worrying I rather eat some meat to heal up." He coughed harshly, the effects of the poison had yet to fade.

This was Sanji's cue to offer to make lunch. For Luffy's dish, he was going to prepare it so it would accelerate the healing process and clean Luffy's system internally.

Sanji almost tripped over the bag containing Krieg and Gin's head and glared at Luffy. "Hurry up and turn it in for a bounty already! I almost tripped over them again!"

"We're waiting for Zoro to turn it in!"

Sanji felt a twinge of regret over Gin's death. The man had inhaled the MH5 gas and died along with Krieg. It must have been fate. When the Captain dies, so does the crew.

* * *

Meanwhile, Nami made her way back to Arlong park. At the Entrance, she met a young boy holding a dagger. Without a doubt, the kid must be looking for Arlong for revenge. Taking out her staff, she beat the boy up enough for him to know realize that if he couldn't even beat a women, there was no way for him to beat Arlong. She dropped a stack of money at his feet and warned him coldly. "Never come back here again or you're dead." She left him sniveling but it was true. The next time he came back here, Arlong's crew was going to kill him.

Arlong park was wide and spacious like usual. It wasn't until she wandered further in when she remembered the long forgotten feeling. Arlong sat before her with a relaxed and confident posture. He grinned down at her with sharp teeth. "Well, Look who is back! Brothers! One of our own had returned! Tonight, Let's celebrate!"

Out of the water, many fishmen surfaced and cheered.

Nami plastered a smile on her face.

She was back in her cage but it was time to break out. Nami approached Arlong. "It's time for you to honor your promise."

"Oh?"

That was when he noticed the large chest behind her. "Do you mean-"

"That's right. I have a Hundred Million Berries. I'm going to buy Cocoyashi Village back from you!"

Arlong only gave her a predatory grin in response.

* * *

Omake:

_The Lottery Lottery Fruit : Kagu Kagu no mi Part 5_

_Krieg tried shooting bullets at the young man but nothing worked. It was as if the bullets were passing through him. _

_"EAT THIS! THE MH5!"_

_Krieg launched a canister of poison gas at Luffy. Upon the release of the gas, Luffy simply sucked it all into his body. His eyes were wide. "Wow! you use some good quality poison!" Bt when it comes to military might, I HAVE MORE WEAPONS THAN YOU!"_

_"TAKE THIS! TEAR GAS, SLEEPING GAS, LAUGHING GAS, POISON GAS!"_

_Four differently colored gas streamed towards Krieg who immediately put on his gas mask. "BWAHHA YOU STRAW HAT BRAT! YOUR GAS ATTACKS CAN'T BEAT ME!"_

_Luffy frowned. "I didn't want to use this but I can convert the Nitrogen into liquid Nitrogen. Let me warn you now, even the hardest of armors will crack and freeze and any living tissue will freeze upon contact and be frostbitten."_

_Krieg refused to believe it. He charged forward with his battle spear and gutted Luffy who reformed around the spear and grabbed Krieg by the arms. "Cool Down."_

_Krieg felt a chilling coldness before he couldn't feel anything at all and his arms dropped down unresponsive. "WHAT IS THIS?"_

_"I told you, my attack directly affects the nerves. You'll never be able to use your arms again."_

_"NO! I AM KRIEG!"_

_Opening his huge mouth to shout, Luffy took the chance to drug Krieg up with sleeping gas and the battle was over._

_Luffy turned to Sanji. "So will you join my crew?"_

_Sanji smirked. "It looks like I'm never going to have to buy ice again."_

_Thus another Nakam joined, The chef._

_

* * *

_

**_SBS Corner_**

_Fanboy357: What happened to the Sneak Preview this chapter sensei?_

_ES: I've decided that the sneak preview wasn't working out well so I scrapped it._

_Fanboy358: What about the SBS corner?_

_ES: Well I've been receiving less and less reviews as the chapters go along and less questions for the SBS too. Why for this chapter, no one submitted a question!_

_Fanboy359: Does this mean you will add in Boa Hancock early just to get more reviews?_

_ES: Nope. I'm actually just going to write however I want and if the readers don't like it, too bad._

_Fanboy360: Well I see that Usopp got laid. What about Luffy?_

_ES: His time will come soon. (Arlong Arc) But I'm taking ideas!_

_And SBS ENDS! Remember when submitting a question, you have to mention it's for the SBS~ Thank you for reading!_

_

* * *

_

A/N: Already I started making minor changes to the story and characters.

Due to the trip to shell town, they lost a few days and never met FullBody. Also Sanji never went to Kamabakka Kingdom. There is another reason for why his cooking is so advanced.

Next is the Arlong Park Arc. This is where Luffy will meet his Deadliest Foe in the East Blue.

Stay tuned for gut wrenching moments and epic battles!

Viking Out~


	7. Chapter 7: Play in Arlong Park

_**PLEASE READ THE SBS AND A/N ON THE BOTTOM, THE AUTHORS NOTE IS VERY IMPORTANT!**_

* * *

**One Piece: The Lottery Lottery Fruit!**

_Who in their right mind would gamble their power devil fruit power based on a lottery? Monkey D. Luffy did. It is said that crazy people have crazy luck. You have the Paramecia, the Zoan, the Logia, and the Mythical Zoan. Enter the long forgotten devil fruit. The Deity Deity Fruit : Model __**Xxxxxxx**_

* * *

Chapter 6: Play in Arlong Park

Arlong's cruel smile sent shivers down Nami's spine but she grit her teeth and confronted him. "I got the 100 Million berries as I promised. Don't tell me you're going back on your word!" she said fiercely. Arlong looked murderous from the accusation but then he threw back his head and he laughed. "Of course not! I'm a man of my words. Brothers, count our navigator's hard earned money! Don't take a single berri or I'm taking it out of your paycheck!" He leaned back onto his pseudo-throne and observed them with predatory eyes. When it appeared that he wasn't going back on his word, She let go of some of the tension that was knotted in her gut.

Nami sighed in relief as Arlong held onto his promise. The rest of the fishmen gathered and counted the money. It was a long and tedious task seeing that the money came in the form of coins and different bills. It varied from gold coins to 10,000 berri bills. After the long count, it was confirmed that she had 100 Million berries exactly. The count would take roughly four hours, a short wait compared to eight years of hard effort. She watched over them like a hawk, who knew if those bastards would filch some money and then deny that she reached 100 Million. Even so, she had a few million berries left in reserve.

While they were counting the money, Arlong signaled to Kuroobi, the Sting-Ray type fishmen. "Call Captain Nezumi and have him capture Nami's sister. Make sure he keeps her arrest off the books." Kuroobi nodded and dove into the water to set the plan in motion. Arlong grinned, Nami was never going to be able to leave his crew, not when he had her sister as a bargaining chip. The final tally had been drawn up and counted. Nami really had collected 100 Million Berries. Arlong grinned and had his underlings stash the money in the vault. "You know what this means right Nami?" She looked at him with a guarded expression. "That I get to buy Cocoyashi village back from you and the villagers won't have to pay you anymore!"

Arlong chuckled darkly. "It's fine by me, I'll just find another village to pay my 'protection fees'. But this means that whatever happens to Cocoyashi village is none of my business. So if another pirate crew attacks the village, I'm not going to step in."

"Why would other pirates intrude in your territory? They all know it's under your rule already." Arlong smirked cruelly. "I had someone spread the word that Cocoyashi Village was no longer under my protection. This means that it's fair game for anyone else."

Nami's eyes widened in horror. "You wouldn't!" She turned around and ran out of Arlong park back to her village. Arlong laughed after her, "It's too late Nami. You'll be our navigator for life. After all, we're Nakama aren't we?"

Terror gripped her heart, clawing desperately within her chest, making running a difficult task. Damn that Arlong! He was making trouble for her through a loophole. As she reached closer to the village, there were no signs smoke or fire, which was a relief. Once she entered town, she was greeted by Genzo. She held onto him, gasping for air. "What's wrong Nami? Why are you breathing like that?"

"T-The Village! Nojiko! Everything is fine?" She gasped out.

Genzo looked confused. "Everything is the same as normal. What's wrong? Arlong giving you grief again?" Nami laughed in relief. "We're free from Arlong now! The village, I bought it back with 100 Million Berries!"

This time, Genzo was the one who broke into a grin. He grabbed his pinwheel hat and threw it into the air with a joyful whoop. "Spread the word to everybody in the village! We're free from Arlong!"

Everyone soon started cheering and approached her sheepishly. "Actually, everyone in the village knew that you joined Arlong's crew so you could save the village. So we decided to keep quiet about it and respect your decision. It was an eight long years but we're finally free! Thank you Nami!" She smiled tearfully and nodded.

The simple fact of knowing that they were free made her heart skip. She had to inform Nojiko this good news in person. Nami felt like she was on cloud nine and there was nothing that could bring down her mood.

"Nojik-!"

Nami stopped at a pause and looked in trepidation. The door to the house was kicked in and all of the orange trees were uprooted. Nami could roughly guess what happened. Much to her horror, there was a puddle of blood on the floor.

She collapsed to her knees and cried. Something had happened to Nojiko.

Her despair turned into rage. Crazy thoughts that she filed deep within started whispering into her ear. It was Arlong who took her away. That was the last straw, It was time to avenge Bellemere's death.

* * *

On a lighter note, Sanji, Yosaku and Luffy was enjoying lunch when a huge sea monster showed up. It a was a humongous cow with flippers and a tail with a ring going through it's nose. It was eyeing their food hungrily, something that didn't sit well with Luffy.

He jumped up in the air using Geppou and gave the Cow a Yata no Kagami reinforced punch. The cow flew head over tails and splashed into the water, creating waves. Luffy flexed his muscles and glared at the cow. "Keep your flippers off our food!"

"MOOOO!" The cow swam over angrily, showing sharp teeth. Luffy cocked his fist back petulantly. "So he wants some more? Acck!"

Sanji kicked Luffy on the head. "YOU SELFISH PEOPLE! Don't do that to the poor animal! Can't you see that he's hungry?" Sanji lifted up a plate of food. "Here you go, he was probably wounded and couldn't hunt for himself." The Sea monsters opened it's mouth wide to eat the food only to get kicked hard by Sanji, sending it flipping tail over heads.

"DIE!"

Yosauku and Luffy was gaping at Sanji's brutality. "Didn't you say not to hurt it?"

Sanji took a stressful drag on his cigarette, "Yeah but that was before he tried to eat me too." The Sea Cow was swimming back ready to capsize their boat. Sanji glared at it. "That overgrown piece of meat. Know your place!" He jumped up and delivered a brutal kick the the monsters fleshy neck. "Jugular kick!"

The monster sea cow fainted from the pain and collapsed onto it's back, floating limply in the Sea. Sanji sat back down to finish his meal. "That was a very good way to kill time." Yosaku could not get over his amazement. "Wow, these people are dangerous, I don't know who is the beast around here. The cow or these two."

"Oi, Yosaku. Get me some tea!"

"Right away sir!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Zoro, Usopp, and Johnny made their way to Cocoyashi village. The Going Merry was parked in the harbor and Usopp wasted no time boarding his ship to see if there was any damage. Zoro watched with amusement as Usopp rubbed his face along the floorboards of the Going Merry. He was starting to think Usopp missed the ship a little bit too much.

His wounds still throbbed with pain and there was a lingering trail of fire stretching diagonally across his chest. Every step he took made his wound flare up. Despite Johnny and Usopp's insistence for him to rest, he could feel the dissonance in the air.

He peered off into the distance where the village was. He could hear quiet but angry voices off in the distance. "Somethings wrong."

Usopp looked up from where he was hugging the mast of the ship. "How did you figure?"

"I hear the sounds of weapons, swords. Also angry voices. Something happened recently." Zoro strained his ears some more but the sound of waves and splashing water were quickly taking over. Also he could make out ... the mooing of a cow?

He turned around. "What the h-"

There was a gigantic Sea Cow swimming towards him dragging what appeared to be a small ship. On the said ship was an overly excited Luffy, the chef from the baratie, and Yosaku hanging onto the ship for his dear life. It was the weirdest scene Zoro had ever seen.

The cow ran straight into the coastline, taking out a huge portion of the natural rocky cliff. Zoro screamed after the flying ship which housed his captain.

"LUFFY YOU GODDAMN IDIOT!"

Luffy leaned back and looked down at Zoro. "Whhaaaaaatttttttttt?"

The swordsman growled in frustration. "You're headed right for the middle of town! Look in front of you!" In the darkness of the night, there were now flickers of flames. The torches illuminated the angry face of the villagers. Each of them wielded a sword or an axe and had a dark look on their face, they were ready to spill blood.

"HEADS UP GUYS! FLYING SHIP COMING THROUGH."

The villagers looked up and saw the bottom of a small ship dropping down at them. They were bewildered at the sight. Did Arlong by any chance take notice of their uprising and throw a small ship at them? Either way, the villagers scattered like fallen leaves, clearing a path for the flying ship which skidded across the ground and stopped when it ran into a bench with an umbrella stand.

Luffy popped out of the pile of wood, brushing off splinters and checking his hat for nicks. "Wow, it's safe. What luck."

A foot shot out of the pile of scrap wood that used to be the ship and Sanji made his way out. "You crazy idiot. I told you to cut the rope before it hit the shore. Now you ruined the supply ship from the Baratie." The dark hair captain shrugged. "We got the Going Merry now. We don't need this supply ship. Where are we by the way?" Luffy glanced around at the apprehensive villagers. "They having a party or something?"

"..."

Sanji was really starting to doubt his captain's ability to grasp the seriousness of the situations. Each of the villagers look like they were ready to lynch someone.

"S..s..sa..sav-e Me!" A weak voice whispered.

Luffy cocked his head to the sound originating from the pile of wood. "Sorry ship but you broke into pieces, we can't fix you anymore."

"S-Save Me!"

Sanji kicked wood away to reveal Yosaku. "Sorry chap. Forgot about you for a moment."

Yosaku rolled over and fainted. Those two were beasts for being able to shake off that collision. Shamefully, he was only mortal unlike those two.

Nami made her presence known by slamming her staff down on the ground. "Luffy! What are you doing here? If you're here for the money, it's gone. I used it all. You can take the ship and go. Get away from here."

He smiled. "Nami! It's good to see you too! Hey, let's go off to the Grand Line now. Sanji joined our crew and we have a chef now!"

The orange hair navigator snarled. She was not in the mood to deal with Luffy's insanity right now. She had to get Nojiko back from Arlong. "I'm done playing pirate with you. Right now my sister has been kidnapped and I need to get her back. This world isn't all sunshine and lollipops like your dream to become the Pirate King! Everyday, people are losing their life or being oppressed because there are pirates like Arlong roaming around and no one is doing anything to stop them. I have my own problems to deal with, go find another navigator to take with you!"

Luffy was silent after her little tirade. "No. I won't have any other navigator beside you."

"What do you want then? I'm about to face Arlong right now and I might die but I will be damned if I don't do something to save my sister." She spat out with venom.

Luffy's goofy demeanor was gone and in it's place was someone with maturity and understanding.

"I know that being a pirate isn't all fun and games but we're nakama. Why won't you let me help you? Your problems are my problems. Your worries are my worries."

He extended his hand to her.

"I know you want to save your sister, just give me the word and I will do everything in my power to help you. Trust me."

Nami shivered as she held her tears back. "I can't do it alone. Please. Nojiko is the only relative I have left in this world. Help me Luffy." She cried out.

He plopped his hat down on her head. "No problem. Guys, you heard the lady. Let's have a rumble in Arlong Park."

Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp stood at alert, determination etched into their faces. It was time to battle.

Nami touched the hat on her head gingerly, remembering Luffy's extreme protectiveness over his hat. To entrust his treasure with her means...

She held back her tears. Luffy was too kind to her.

* * *

The march to Arlong Park was a slow one. Luffy ignored all of the villager's questions and attempts to stop him. There was only one thought running through Luffy's mind at the moment. Rescuing Nami's sister.

The description he received said Nojiko was a beautiful young lady, two years older than Nami. She has short bluish purple hair and dark blue eyes. One defining feature was the tattoos that ran from her right arm to the center of her chest, making a heart. According to what Nami said, there was a high chance Arlong kidnapped her.

There were no guards around Arlong park. No one was foolish enough to venture in, only death awaited them inside.

Heedless of these thoughts, Luffy pulled his fist back and demolished the front gates with one punch. The doors flew into one of the side pillars supporting a balcony. The loss of the structure undermined the stability of the entire construct and the balcony fell down with a resounding crash. The sound of crumbling rocks was loud enough to wake the dead.

"What's this, who dares to make a ruckus in the middle of the night in my place?"

Arlong made his appearance, radiating killing intent. As a Merman, Arlong was considered big. He stood a head taller than every other Merman on his crew and his muscles rippled when he moved. Although he has bluish skin, the most distinctive trait is his saw-nose which was sharp and long. He has long, black hair sprouting on the back of his neck, reaching down to his shoulders, from what appears to be a brown Ushanka, covering his head. There is a fin protruding from his nape, surrounded by his hair, and the gills are located on both the sides of his neck.

He look like he could snap a human in two with his bare hands and chances were, he probably had in the past.

Luffy walked right up to Arlong who looked down at him. While Luffy wasn't considered short at a respectable 6 feet in height, Arlong made him look short as he towered over him at nearly eight feet. "What do you want human. There had better be a good reason for disturbing my sleep."

"Where is Nojiko?"

"Oh you mean our Navigator's sister. Why would I know where she is?" Arlong hissed.

"Nami is OUR Navigator. You know where her sister is. Tell me."

Arlong lift Luffy up by the collar of his short. "Or what human? What are you going to do?"

"This."

Holding onto both of Arlong's shoulder for support, he gave Arlong a knee kick right in the diaphragm. The kick pushed all the air from Arlong's lungs and sent him crashing through the wall of his mansion. Arlong's crew gaped at Luffy. Ever since they came to the East Blue, no one had ever hit Arlong that way.

"Get up, there's more where that came from. Tell me where Nami's sister is."

Arlong pushed aside the rubble and stood up like nothing happened. "So you come to my base and attack me over one woman? Are you out of your mind? What can you do even if I told you? Will you storm a marine base and take her back? You don't have the balls you puny human!"

Nami gasped. Why would Nojiko be held in a Marine base? She then recalled the mouse like marine working as Arlong's lapdog.

"Marine base 16! She's being held there by Captain Nezumi!"

"Zoro, your wounds are fine?" Luffy asked.

Zoro grinned. "I feel like shit but I can fight. A wound like this is nothing." Even Luffy had to acknowledge Zoro's endurance and high pain tolerance. "Good, then go with Nami to Marine base 16 and get her sister back."

"How should I deal with the marines then?" Zoro asked calmly, he needed to know Luffy's stance on combating marines. Luffy paused, "Remember Zoro. A corrupt Marine is a dead Marine. That's all."

Zoro turned around and dragged Nami with him. " I got it." He borrowed Johnny and Yosaku's Swords and left with Nami to make their way to Marine base 16.

Arlong smiled cruelly. "You're sending off your crewmate to die. There is no way he can take on an entire marine base. That's something only I can do." Luffy flipped him off. "Don't be so sure little fishy, I can do it too but I'm staying here so I can stop you."

Instead of being enraged by the taunt, Arlong laughed, amused by Luffy's claim. "Do you really think you can stop me? It's no use even if you rescue her. I will simply get rid of trash like you and take her back. This way, Nami will have no choice but to follow me for the rest of her life!"

There was steel in Luffy's voice as he spoke. "I know. That's why in order to stop that from happening. I'm going to kill you."

Arlong lunged forward, "JUST TRY IT HUMAN!"

Luffy dashed forward to meet Arlong's charge and collided with him. The rest of the spectators were able to witness the fight when they were standing at a standstill. Arlong was holding Luffy's left hand by the wrist and was restraining Luffy's right arm by the shoulder. Luffy was digging his heels into the ground to stop Arlong from pushing him backwards.

"Weak. You are too weak to beat me human."

Arlong lifted Luffy up by the hand, without the ground for support, Luffy could not generate enough force to do a proper kick. The eight feet tall merman smirked at Luffy and hurled him at the wall, intent on turning him into a bloody splatter. Much to his surprise, the boy flipped around in midair and kicked off an invisible ledge and charged right back him. The boy punched him with the strange blue core on his fist and he felt his body yielding to force of the blow. His back curved in and the force of the punch sent him flying horizontally until he was put to a stop by his crew mates.

Kuroobi, Chew, and Hatchan. They had caught him mid flight which was embarrassing. Chew smirked, "Don't worry yourself over trash like these Arlong, we'll kill them all for you."

Arlong stood up in annoyance, the last punch the boy threw had an unnatural amount of force behind it. He was debating between eviscerating the boy himself or letting his crew do when Hatchan charged forward with six swords toward the dark haired youth.

"How dare you attack Arlong, Take this. Six blade chop shop!"

Luffy glared at the octopus merman. "Why are you getting in the way of my fight? _Rankyaku_." He launched a tempest kick at the approaching enemy, the crescent blade of compressed air smashed through all six of the swords and left a bloody gash across the mermen's chest. Hachi slumped forward and collapsed onto the floor face first with a splat, blood pooling from beneath him.

"Hmm, the six blades of his nullified the blow, he'll live."

Kuroobi and Chew tried to join the fight only to be attacked by Sanji and Usopp.

"Small shots like you shouldn't be fighting bosses. Why don't you take me on you fish?" mocked Sanji. Usopp on the other hand was running away from Chew after sniping him from afar. "Ahhh, don't chase after me."

Chew dashed after the long nose punk who dared to shoot him. "Get back here you punk, I'm going to kill you."

Luffy walked up to Arlong who was looking at Hachi's fallen body. "Now we can continue our fight."

Arlong looked up, his eyes narrowed into vertical slits, not unlike the eyes of enraged sea kings. "You did it now brat, How dare you attack my brethren like that. I'm going to snap you in half."

* * *

_(Zoro and Nami on the way to Marine Base 16)_

Zoro on the other hand was looking at Nami coolly. He had never seen her without the mask on her face. This was the real Nami, a lonely girl who was doing her best to protect her family and village from the cruelty of the world.

Nami noticed Zoro's stare and shifted nervously on her feet. She fidgeted before apologizing. "Zoro. I know I betrayed you guys when I took the ship and cash but I did it to buy Cocoyashi village back. You guys don't owe me anything so why are you helping me?"

Zoro chose his words carefully."It was Luffy's order. When you took off with the ship, he insisted that only you would be our navigator. Because you're our Nakama."

She looked off to the side to hide her tears and laughed gently. "Luffy's too kind sometimes. I'm so glad I met you guys."

"Save your sappiness for your sister, we're here."

The marine base was oddly unique. One of the towers was fashioned so that it resembled a mouse's head with six whiskers. Without a doubt, this was captain Nezumi's base. The base was surprisingly lax, there were no spotlights illuminating the area in the dark. Normally, they would have the search light on and guards stationed around the entrance to prevent outsiders from intruding. The lack of security could only mean one thing, Captain Nezumi and the entire base believed that no one would dare attack them since they were working with Arlong.

Zoro grinned. That would be their undoing.

"You should stay on the ship and make sure we're ready to go when I get back. I'm pretty sure I can find your sister."

Nami shook her head. "There is no way I'm going to sit here and wait while you go and rescue my sister." Zoro tore open his shirt to show Nami the bandages that swathed his body. "Look at these wounds, I won't be able to protect you and your sister both at my current condition. Just make sure that we have a way to escape once okay?"

Nami teared up and covered her mouth at the sight of the wound, the blood seeped through the white bandages to hint that Zoro had taken a large cut across his chest. He must be in so much pain but he was still willing to invade a Marine base alone. Zoro sighed. He really shouldn't have lost his cool. He could see how desperately Nami wanted to do something. A lightbulb went off in his head.

"How about this, while I make a commotion and rescue your sister, you find the treasury and make off with all the money Nezumi ever stole and cheated."

Nami's eyes lit up. "Just leave that to me then!"

"Great, I'm going to head through the front doors and go wild for a bit, follow me in after five minutes."

Zoro kicked in the front doors to the naval base and marched in shouting. "NEZUMI YOU RAT, COME OUT HERE. WHERE ARE YOU HIDING HER?"

Thirty seconds later, Nami heard the sirens ring and the sound of over a hundred soldiers running down to subdue the intruder. The sound of rifles discharging went on for over two minutes before screams started filling the air.

Zoro was surrounded by a group of soldiers, each training a rifle on his body. He glared at the crowd, daring them to shoot him. They all flinched, unwilling to start a fight with him unless they were ordered to.

"Give me Nojiko."

Captain Nezumi yawned and walked in behind his body guards. He wore an odd hat that had mouse ears, the whiskers only added to the look.

Nezumi (Mouse) indeed.

He spoke in a pompous voice. "You must be Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro. How dare you cause such a ruckus. And I have no idea who this Nojiko girl is." He sneered down at Zoro, safely behind a platoon of soldiers.

Zoro radiated an immense killing intent and even Nezumi who was ignorant could feel how dangerous Zoro was. "Does this mean if I look through your base, I won't find her locked up somewhere?"

"Nonsense, who said you could look around as you please? You're already trespassing. Guards! Fire at him!" Nezumi ordered.

Zoro looked at the Marines who looked like they were ready to shit themselves. "Do you really want to go against me? I'm warning you now. Anyone who willingly follows that man is a corrupt marine. And a corrupt marine is a dead Marine. I will kill you and even Arlong will not be able to protect you because he will be dead too."

The soldiers glanced at each other nervously. While they were greedy and corrupt, they saw no reason to risk their lives.

"The first person who hits him will get 100,000 Berries and the person who kills him gets 1 Million Berries and he will be promoted!" Nezumi offered.

This was the cue for the Marines to try and claim the prize. They discharged their guns, shooting at ... empty space?

Zoro had dashed low and fast, weaving through the crowd of marines.

"Wolf Streaming Swords!"

He slipped through them, leaving deep cuts and lacerations. The marines dropped, screaming and moaning in agony. "This is your last warning. I will not hold back next time. Where is the girl?"

Nezumi turned purple in the face. "Do I look stupid to you? You'll never be able to find out where she is. She's hidden in a secret prison beneath the mess hall. No one would ever look there!" The Marine soldiers and Zoro gawked at Nezumi. This man is really stupid.

"Okay Mess Hall it is. Get out of my way."

Zoro charged through the crowd of marines but several of them still wanted to fight. He blocked the opposing sword with one of his and turned his head to use his third sword to cut his opponents throat. The marine gurgled and bled to death on the floor. "Well, what do you know. I'm a real outlaw now." He pushed his way through and killed several other upstarts after his head and ran into the base. Hordes of marines followed, firing randomly at his back.

Nami waited until the area sounded devoid of human life before slipping in. there were several dead marines on the floor. Nami was no stranger to death especially after witnessing her adoptive mother die in front of her. In fact, Nami was but a toddler when her village was attacked by pirates. But Nami still felt sympathy for those who died.

She was a bit emotional for her own good. As she explored the clean and rather richly decorated naval base, her thoughts wandered to that of the dead marines. Did they have family? Brother, sisters, parents or children who depended on them for a living? Did they serve under a corrupt man like Nezumi just so they could make a meager salary? She would never know.

She found her way to the treasury. As expected, It was locked with heavy security. The money was locked in a vault behind a huge circular iron door. There were two locks she had to pick and a combination lock requiring a 4 digit pass code.

Nani pulled out her picklock kit and started working on the locks. It took her a minute each to pick the lock. She was pro like that.

The combination lock was a bit harder to crack. It was not the turn dial locks but ones with tumblers. She took out a small box of chalk dust and lightly applied a thin layer over the tumblers. She blew gently and smiled at the results.

Nezumi's hands left sweat finger prints that dried up, leaving a little oily residue. The chalk dust clung the the tumblers that Nezumi touched. She slid them into the right order and heard it click open.

Success!

She pulled open the door and looked into the safe. There were solid gold bars stacked up to her knee in a box. Gems, and various treasures Nezumi 'liberated' from pirates glimmered in the corner and there was a small chest full of Bills.

The total value of the gold, treasures, and cash totaled to about 60 Million berries. Not bad for a Marine base since they rarely carried over 20 Mil of Bounty Money. The other 10 Million berries was the annual funding for the base and 30 Million berries came in the form of treasures and gold that they confiscated from pirates. Nezumi had been running a dirty operation indeed.

Nami loaded all the treasure onto a cart and wheeled her loot out of the Naval base while whistling a jaunty tune. All she could do now was to trust in Zoro to rescue her sister.

Zoro used the semi-narrow corridors to his advantage to engage the Marines one by one. Even as the stench of blood saturated the air, Zoro did not stop. He had long embraced the fact that in order to reach his goal, he would have to kill many people. Unless he is able to defeat all the Marines pursuing him, he would not be able to rescue Nojiko. He slashed and cut with his swords but for every marine that fell, two more took his place. All the fighting made his wounds bleed again and Zoro felt himself getting lightheaded.

"Execute SD-09 (Self-Defense Manuever 09!"

The marine soldiers that he was fighting dropped to the ground the moment they heard that order, revealing a cannon they had rolled into the corridor. Zoro cursed and held up the two oversize swords he borrowed in a feeble attempt to block the cannonball.

Needless to say, it was pretty hard to block a cannonball from point blank range.

The swords shattered upon impact and shrapnel peppered his body. The only upside was the flames from the explosion cauterized the wound from his scar, stopping the bleeding. Blood dribbled from his lips as he watch them load the cannon again. Was this the end? Despite the screaming from the marines, the world had gone oddly quiet. He knew this feeling, It was when he was close to death and the sound of his heart beat so loudly to his ears.

He could hear sounds of breathing, the metal of his swords, the breathing of the cannon, the walls, the floor. Is understanding the meaning of these breathing the secret to something?

The cannonball was approaching him at high speed. He could hear the iron breathing. Transferring his thoughts to his sword, he held the Wadō Ichimonji pointing vertically to the floor. The sword cleaved cleanly through iron projectile, the two halves exploding behind Zoro. He had done it. He had cut through metal.

There was no time to waste, before the marines could reload, he appeared in front of them , katana drawn back. To the Marines, Zoro was a devil, his katana cut through the thick cannon like it was made of paper. Even though he appeared to be on the verge of death, he was getting stronger each passing minute. His slashes cut unobstructed through their katana and straight through the bone. There was no stopping him.

Finally it was only Nezumi left. The smarter Marines already ran out of there the moment Zoro started fighting. Now of all the corrupted Marines, only Nezumi was left. The man was shaking and he sat on a puddle on the floor. Zoro grimaced at the brown stain and the smell of feces.

Nezumi pissed and shat himself.

Zoro held the tip of his sword to Nezumi's throat. "Where is the girl?"

Nezumi stuttered, trying to regain the ability to speak. Through chattering teeth, he begged. "Please. S-Spare me! I have the keys to her cell." He pulled out a set of keys and placed it at Zoro's feet. He looked pleadingly at Zoro who had an unreadable expression on his face.

"My captain said this to me. 'A corrupt Marine is a Dead Marine.'"

Wordlessly, he flicked his wrist, severing Nezumi's throat and jugular. Nezumi gurgled, unable to scream, desperately trying to stop the blood from leaking but it was no use. His heart continued beating and pumping the precious blood out and within seconds, he died from blood lost.

From the shadows, a brave marine raised the camera and took a photo, he had to report this to the central.

Zoro trudged down to the lower level hidden under the mess hall. The prison cells were all empty save for one. It really made him wonder if Nezumi had done any work at all prior to his death. There was a young lady sleeping in the cell, her wrist shackled together. Zoro could dimly see blue hair and a ornate tattoo on her arm. He banged on the cage.

"Hey. Are you awake?

The young lady inside woke up and pressed herself to the wall, eye's wild. "If you come near me again, I'll bite your dick off like that other Marine."

Zoro's eyebrow shot way up. "Uh... Okay...I'm actually here to rescue you though."

She laughed at him. "Like I'm going to believe that. Nezumi and his soldiers are on Arlong's payroll. There's no way you can appose both Arlong and Nezumi!"

Wow, Nami's sister was jaded and didn't trust anyone, similar to Nami. It really made Zoro wonder what happened to them in the past. He unlocked the doors to the cell and threw the keys in.

"Uncuff yourself and follow me. Nami is waiting." He leaned against the wall with his eyes shut, regulating his breathing to control the pain and fatigue he felt.

Nojiko looked at the keys dubiously. It was too good to be true. If this swordsman was here to rescue him, why wasn't Nezumi there to stop him? Nonetheless, the keys indeed did unlock her handcuffs. They clattered to the floor and she rubbed her raw wrist in surprise.

The green haired swordsman grabbed her by the arm and started dragging her towards the exit. "We got to go."

She tried twisting out of his grip but he was firm and unyielding. "Wait a minute, who are you? Where are we going?" She yelped as he picked her up and slung her over his shoulder. "I'm Roronoa Zoro."

She blinked in surprise. "The pirate hunter? Did my sister contract you to rescue me?"

"No, I was ordered by my captain."

"Captain?"

"Yes. Monkey D. Luffy."

Nojiko thought hard. "I never heard of any Marine captain with that name."

"That's because we're pirates."

Nojiko immediately started struggling and kicking. "What the hell are you doing?" He winced when her knee hit the top part of his cut.

"Put me down this instance, there is no way Nami would hire a pirate."

Zoro glared at her. "Fine, have it your way. Nami's waiting for you outside on the ship. Walk on your own." Nojiko shot shifty glances at Zoro as he walked behind her. She smelt an acrid scent in the air, one with a metallic tang. It was blood, a lot of blood.

Turning the corridor, she saw a horrific sight. Dead and dismembered marines littered the floor, the blood making a solid sheet of red. Her knees shook and her head spun. As she was fainting, she could make out the sight of Nezumi with his throat slit and a cannon cleaved cleanly in the middle. Did the swordsman do all of this?

Zoro caught her before she hit the floor. He slung her over his shoulder again and walked straight ahead, the crimson liquid clinging to his boots, leaving bloody foot prints long after he walked away from the scene.

Zoro gave Nojiko over to a worried Nami who checked her over. He leaned against the mast and closed his eyes. He was so tired. "I'm going to sleep now. Don't wake me."

She gave Zoro a grateful smile, "No problem." After reaching down there and finding out Nojiko still had her maidenhead, Nami let out a sigh of relief. At least they didn't violate her. She unfurled the sails and started a path back to Arlong Park.

* * *

Sanji was duking it out with the ray-like fishmen. Kuroobi was using some sort off odd fishmen karate but was very effective. A level 40 punch sent him flying through walls. What really annoyed Sanji was the Merman used his huge fin like guards on his arms to block all his kicks.

"Broken Tile punch."

This was a punch that breaks bones. One unknown thing about Fishman Karate was that they practiced their tile breaking technique on rock hard corals that grow 10,000 meters beneath the sea. Roughly twenty tiles stacked together have the hardness and the consistency of human bone.

Sanji took one of those punches to the head. It was only his experience with Zeff that saved him. The old man had kicks that felt level 400. Forget about bones. Zeff could leave inches of indent in a plate of solid iron.

"You fish, I'm going to show you why you shouldn't mess with chefs."

Kuroobi used his fin like arms to block a kick he thought Sanji sent but Sanji hooked his feet over the top part of the fin and swung in below underneath the guard. He slammed his heel up into the Fishman's throat.

"Trachea Turnover."

Kuroobi gagged and jumped into the water. His windpipe was crushed in and he couldn't breathe with his lungs so he had no choice but to go into the water to breathe with his gills.

Sanji jumped in after him. Kuroobi spoke up underwater. "You're a real fool to fight me underwater." Sanji smirked and flipped him the finger. "Courtesy of Zeff." he gurgled.

Kuroobi sent a level 100 punch in the water at Sanji who couldn't react fast enough due to the water resistance. The punch created a pressurized and compact stream of water that race underwater like a locomotive It slammed into the blond chef's chest and nailed into the rocky cliff, huge pieces of rocks falling off. Kuroobi went to admire his handiwork when Sanji grabbed him by the neck and injected air into the gills at the side of Kuroobi's neck.

The fishmen's reaction was natural, when air gets into it's gills, they cannot breathe. Kuroobi had his windpipe crushed in and air stuck in his gills. Unable to breathe, he suffocated to death and drowned.

His limp body floated to the surface. Sanji surfaced next to it. What irony, a fish drowning to death. Sanji spat out blood and crawled back onto dry land. That level 100 punch was no joke. It gave him a pretty bad concussion. Hopefully there was no permanent damage. Idly, he wonder how Usopp was faring against Chew.

Usopp in all honesty wasn't doing that well. Of all the Fishmen he had to snipe, he chose the one that could spit bullets made from water. Chew is an archer-fish type Fishmen. Usopp shot his Kayaku Boshi at chew who simply slapped it away and returned fire.

The only reason why Usopp wasn't swiss cheese was he was using Mantra to read the flow of the battle. While his Mantra wasn't very good, it was enough to feel the impatience and the general area Chew was shooting at.

Usopp pulled out a new star that he just created a few days prior. Kaen Boshi, the flame star. He shot it at Chew who slapped it away, thinking it was a regular Gunpowder star. It exploded into a ball of flames. Chew stuck his hand into the rice paddy to quench the flames but the damage had been done.

Chew inhaled a mass of water, his chest bulging to unnatural proportions and started shooting water bullets rapidly on anger. Usopp ducked behind a tree and dropped low. There was no choice, he had to use his greatest weapon, his ability to lie.

"Ughh I got hit! I'm dying."

He slumped to the floor face down, red liquid pooling beneath his body courtesy of a ketchup star.

Chew sneered. "Only one shot and that brat died? This is no fun." Usopp suddenly stood up, a rubber band pulled back. "Usopp rubber band!" Chew reactively closed his eyes and flinched, giving Usopp the chance to use his close combat weapon.

"Usopp teeth breaking Hammer!"

Chew opened his eyes and received a hammer to the face, breaking his teeth. He opened his mouth to shoot Usopp in the face but Usopp was faster, slipping a palm sized metallic star into Chew's mouth. Twisting his body for an underhand loop smash to the jaw, Usopp connected the finishing combo part of the technique.

"Instant-kill Hammer Pellet Combo!** SHRAPNEL STAR EXPLOSION!**

The pellet was designed to explode when in contact with heavy blunt force, mainly that of a hammer. Usopp slammed the hammer upwards into Chew's jaw, making him bite the pellet. The pellet activated in a silent explosion that shattered the outer shell and sent shrapnel exploding in all directions. Needless to say, Chew died instantly.

It was a gruesome sight, the explosion unhinged Chew's jaw, showing how torn up the throat and the roof of the mouth was. Sharp shrapnel could be seen lodged all the way up to Chew's brain. Usopp hurled all over Chew's mangled head. This was the first time the sharpshooter had tested the weapon on a live target, hopefully, he would never have to use it again.

But the fight was over, he had won.

* * *

Luffy gasped on the floor, blood trickling from his lips. Arlong threw a handful of water which slammed into him with the force of a cannonball. "This is the difference between you and me. I don't even need to dirty my hand to fight you."

Luffy hated to admit it but Arlong's strength was on a whole different level. Compared to the other Fishmen, Arlong was an elite class. The rumors that he was able to fight on equal levels with Jimbei, one of the Shichibukai, might not be so far-fetched. Tekkai was useless as a defense against Arlong.

One punch from Arlong left an indent in his iron hard abs and put him in a crater two feet deep. The only thing he had over Arlong was his speed advantage. He used Soru to approach Arlong from behind and sent punches and launched several tempest kicks but Arlong dropped low and dodged the blows with an uncanny sixth sense.

"You know, you're only wasting your energy by scampering around like that. Why don't you settle it with me one on one. No tricks." Arlong taunted.

It was true, using Soru took a lot of energy. He had to engage him head on. Luffy sent a rock crushing punch with is right hand which was caught by Arlong. Undeterred, Luffy twisted his body so he slammed his shoulder into Arlong, knocking him off balance. Then he used his right hand, index finger pointed out, and plunged it into Arlong's chest.

Shigan!

It was the first attack that Arlong took throughout the long battle. Arlong had twisted his body to the side so it pierced his upper pectoral muscle instead of his heart. He roared and lifted Luffy up bodily by the arm, shaking him like a ragdoll. He lifted Luffy up over his head and smashed him on the floor.

"How-"

*Smash* Luffy was picked up and slung down again, head first. His head rung from the impact, dazed, he lost control of his tekkai.

"Dare-"

*Smash* This time Arlong used him like a bat and broke him though one of the thick pillars, also breaking his ribs.

"You-"

*Slam* This time, Luffy slammed his foot down on the ground, preventing Arlong from smashing his head in. He twisted his other leg and launched a vertical kick backwards, catching Arlong in the jaw. Stunned, Arlong released his grip on Luffy's arm.

Luffy was amazed that he was still alive. He was pretty sure his skull had fractured and it was a miracle the ribs did not penetrate any organs. Arlong spat out his crumbled and broken teeth. He pulled out the entire set and grew out another set within seconds. Arlong grinned. "Let's get back to the fun."

Luffy clenched his fist and activated his tekkai to the maximum. Arlong wasted no time in attacking, with a head on charge, he was prepared to gut the human with his bare hands when he received the heaviest punch in his entire life.

It felt like he took a super amped up Abarasque Tile punch from Jinbei. Pretending that he wasn't shaken from that attack although he was, he growled at Luffy. "What was that attack just now."

"_Tekkai Kenpo_. Hurts a lot doesn't it?"

Luffy felt like he just ripped all the muscles in his right arm. _Tekkai_ was a technique where the user would harden their body by bringing their muscles to a state of absolute tension. This meant that moving while using tekkai was out of question. But if by any chance someone could move while using tekkai, they would be punching with fists of steel.

He was ripping his muscles to move while using tekkai. Arlong got back up from the punch and slipped into the water, swimming around, his dorsal fin protruding from the surface like that of a shark. It slipped under and Luffy ran to the edge.

"Don't run away!"

"Gyahaha. You fell for it. **SHARK ON DARTS**!"

It was the simple truth that Merman had the ability to swim and move freely in the water, in fact, being in the water increases their speed and power. Arlong took advantage of that and swam at maximum speed, exiting the water, he targeted Luffy.

His nose was sharp and serated like a sawfish. He speared the young man right under the shoulder's collarbone and pinned him to the wall. Arlong grinned cruely. "Hurts a lot doesn't it?"

Luffy gasped kicked Arlong off him, the nose ripping out from his new wound. Arlong slipped back into the water again and prowled around, aiming for Luffy's heart this time. Luffy brought up the Yagata no Kagami in time to block the very tip of Arlong's nose. Arlong felt himself go to a full stop in midair, the young man in front of him not even pushed back a inch!

Something heavy collided with his body and he fell to the ground with somebody slumped over him. He rolled the body off and say that it was the body of Kuroobi, his strongest fighter aside from himself. His brethren's eyes were rolled up to the back off his head and there was no heartbeat. Anger exploded from within and Arlong's eyes turned into narrow slits. His muscles tightened and his veins bulged from the frenzied blood rushing too his head. His eyes fell upon Sanji, the one who had taken out Kuroobi and he attacked.

Before Luffy could stop Arlong, the Saw-fish merman had already bulldozer Sanji with a shoulder slam. The chef was thrown into the air where Arlong jumped and and opened his mouth wide to bite Sanji. If the bite connected, not even bones will be left. Luffy used _Soru_ and _Geppou_ to dash forward in midair, zigzagging like lighting to where Sanji was. Before Arlong could bite down, the young man he was fighting from before appeared from thin air before him. "You were still fighting me, Why don't you choke on this?"

Rankyaku mid-air version: _Tempest Kick Straight Pierce_!

Luffy kicked forward in mid-air rapidly, merging _Soru_ and _Rankyaku_ together to create a piercing shock wave that shot forward in a straight line. Arlong held his arm in a cross block as the technique slammed into him, propelling him backwards until he slammed into the top room of the mansion. Luffy followed him using _Soru_ and _Geppou_, today was the first time he merged the two techniques together. It used a lot of stamina but it allowed him to fight on a three dimensional level. The zigzagging reminded him of lightning so he decided to call it, "**_Path of Lightning_**."

Arlong was thrown into a room full of paper, Luffy picked one up. They were maps. There were maps stacked high above their head, filling the entire room with paper on all sides. "What is this?" Luffy queried. It better not be what he thought it was.

The Saw-Fish merman lived up to his name and strength. The piercing shock wave he just landed had left a deep cut in Arlong's arm but did not penetrate. "This room is where Nami spent eight years writing my maps. I have sought countless navigators over the world but none of them could write a map as accurately as Nami does! A person like you can never use Nami like I do!"

Luffy glanced at the side. "There are bloodstains on this pen..."

"That's right, there's nothing you can do to change this fact. Nami will work for me forever until the day I die!" Arlong laughed and attacked Luffy who was standing there with his head down. Luffy lifted up his arm to block Arlong's chopping smash, his forearm cleanly breaking from the impact but he didn't care.

"Use? No more, I can't allow this room to exist. Starting from this moment on, Nami is never going to work for you again."

Luffy launched several rapid tempest kicks into the piles of paperwork, cutting them cleanly into pieces. Arlong looked murderous. "What are you doing!, That's eight years of hard work!"

Outside, the rest of the villagers watched with rising. The fight had gone on for a while now and they weren't sure who was winning, the future of the East Blue depended on this man. "Gen-san! Everyone! We got Nojiko back!" It was Nami who was running towards them with Nojiko behind her. Genzo broke out into a wide smile, Nojiko was safe!

Nami looked at the destruction in wonder, "What happened here while I was gone?"

"The blonde chef over there killed Kuroobi somehow and that pissed Arlong off. He was about two seconds from death when that dark haired kid kicked Arlong up there. They haven't been out ever since." Sanji was slumping against the wall, sleeping off the pain, not unlike how Zoro was.

Nami gasped, that was where her room was. Several slicing blades of wind cut through the walls, blasting cut up maps from the sides. Was Luffy doing what she thought he was doing?

Arlong howled with rage, "My maps! Stop that! " He took Luffy by the arm and smashed his fist into Luffy's face, putting Luffy to a stop. "I don't care how important these maps are, or how strong your species are. All I know is that this is the room Nami never wanted to be in and I'm going to destroy it."

He twisted out of Arlong's grip, using one one hand to pivot himself on the ground. He spun around quickly in a circle on one hand while performing _Rankyaku_ to create a circle shaped _Rankyaku_ which radiated outward. The attack was powerful enough to cut through the outer walls of Arlong park. Arlong had dropped low himself to avoid the cutting power of the technique.

The walls off the room was cut cleanly in half, collapsing to reveal the room to the rest of the villagers.

Nojiko watched in amazement was the entire top portion of the building slide off and crumble, revealing two figures. She pointed at the dark haired youth, his face caked in blood. "Hey is that Luffy?"

Nami smiled. "Yeah, that's my crazy Captain. Monkey D. Luffy."

From Nojiko's perspective, Luffy was pretty cool. He was risking his life to fight for her sister and he looked sexy like that. The look of determination on his face and the innate power he possessed intrigued her.

Arlong punched Luffy, who was still recovering from exerting the rest of his stamina, in the gut. Luffy wheezed as his iron defense crumbled from Arlong's blow. Hunched over, Arlong opened his mouth and bit down on the junction between Luffy's shoulder and neck. The teeth scrapped into the bone and Luffy screamed.

"Argghhhh!"

The blood curling shout of pain sent shivers down the villagers back. That sort of pain would be enough to make a man pass out but Luffy had no intention of letting Arlong have his way and take a chunk of his shoulder, bone included.

Luffy took advantage of the close proximity and used his good hand to reverse the situation. Arlong was biting him, meaning that Luffy's hand was out of his peripheral vision.

_Shingan Ougen (Yellow Lotus) _Luffy sent multiple _shingan_, plunging his finger in and out of Arlong's chest at a rapid place, targeting vital areas. Finger size holes dotted Arlong's chest and the Fishmen went slack with pain and shock. With his neck free, Luffy used his final strength.

"_Mt. Colbo Eruption Kick_!"

Inspired after his hometown's mountain, Luffy sent a 180 degree tekkai powered kick straight up at Arlong's Jaw, sending Arlong flying straight up into the air and jumped up straight after him. Upon reaching the apex about 100 meters above Arlong Park, Luffy grabbed Arlong by nose and dashed down using _Path of Lightning_.

He zigzagged down at the approaching ground at breakneck speed, aided by the pull of gravity. Twenty meters before impact with Arlong park, he reversed his grip, clamping his arms around Arlong's leg, locking it in place while hooking his legs over Arlong's shoulder to restrain his arms. His feet crossed together at the back of Arlong's head, keeping the head and spine straight. Upon impact, Arlong would take the full force of the blow to the head and spine.

_(A/N: Anyone who saw the fight scene between Sasuke and Naruto at the valley of the End knows how the scene looks like.)_

Activating his tekkai to the maximum level, He shouted out his final attack.

"_**Lightning Descends!**_"

There was a horrific crash as they plowed through Nami's room and continued down six levels before smashing into the ground level. Nami and Nojiko watched with horror was Luffy took a suicidal dive with Arlong into the ground. The stability of the entire structure was undermined and Arlong park started collapsing. The Grand Structure that embodied the power and terror of Arlong imploded and crumbled into rubble.

Did Luffy survive? Was it even possible for a human to take several tons of concrete rubble?

After a minute of silence, Nami started fearing the worst. She woke Sanji up and sent someone to get Zoro. "Help me clear the rubble, Luffy's buried here somewhere!" The villagers all streamed together to help out, forming a human chain as they moved pieces of broken wood and rocks. Usopp had made his way back intent on bragging of his win but realized that now was not the time. They had to save Luffy.

Sanji kicked the larger pieces of rocks out of the way while Zoro used his new ability to cleave through the bigger pieces of rocks. With the aid from those two and the villagers, they unearthed Luffy and Arlong after ten minutes.

Nami covered her mouth to stifle a sob at the sight of Luffy.

Arlong's head was crushed into a pulp, the only recognizable feature on the face was the nose. His body was literally broken and limbs played at unnatural angles. It didn't take a genius to find out that Arlong was dead. Luffy was not in much better condition from Arlong, blood pooled from his wound on his neck/shoulder and his left arm look like it broke in three places. Nami tapped him lightly, "Luffy?"

His eyes snapped open suddenly, shocking Nami. He grasped her trembling hands with his blood stained one. "N-Nami." He croaked out.

"I'm here Luffy." She said, tears starting to leak from her eyes.

"N-never." He hacked a bloody cough. "I will never do what Arlong does. Y-you're m-my Nakama r-right?" He choked out.

Nami hugged him gently, mindful off his wounds. "Of course we're nakama you idiot." And she started crying.

Nojiko looked at their dark hair savior, Luffy was an enigma, He took on Arlong and Nezumi by risking his life just so he could help out a friend. He was truly someone admirable.

"Get the doctors over here and spread the word! Arlong park has become part of History. We are free!"

A scout from another Marine base was hiding in the shadows, he was sent to check out Arlong park after he received notice that Base 16 was destroyed by The Pirate Hunter. When he arrived, Arlong park was already turned into rubble. Just who had destroyed Arlong park?

Zoro unsheathed his sword and cut off Arlong's head or what remained off it. Holding it up to the villagers, he told them to take it with them as proof. _*Snap* _That was the picture the marine took, A picture of Zoro holding Arlong's head. He had to report this to the Central. Zoro had taken out Marine base 16 and Arlong!

It was that moment when many things changed for the future of the Strawhat pirates.

Influenced by Luffy's courage, bits and pieces of shattered will slowly reformed and pieced itself together, the broken hearts of the villagers grew whole again. Luffy has the ability to change people, the power to inspire and to lead. There was something about him that drew others to him. Whether they have ambition to be the world's best or whether they simply want to be by his side. He simply changed those around him.

Zoro used to believe that his only ambition is to become the World's greatest Swordsman but now he was starting to doubt. After seeing his captain's selfless act, he wondered exactly which he prized more, his ambition, or the crew? Sanji in similar regards used to believe the All Blue was just a dream but after meeting Luffy, he felt the courage and resolve to actually try and seek it.

Luffy had also pulled off impossible feats, defeating Krieg and saving the baratie, for that he was eternally grateful and he vowed to follow him for the rest of his life. He had to grow stronger!

Usopp was also grateful to Luffy, he saved Syrup Village and Kaya from Kuro. Without Luffy, Kuro would have long razed the village to the ground and he would not be on the path to becoming a brave warrior of the sea. He already had defeated a fishmen on his own. With Luffy, there was no doubt that he would go on many adventures and become even stronger!

For Nami, Luffy was a savior sent from the heavens. When she first met him, she thought he was a naive and goofy teen. Who would have thought that she owed him for saving her life, Nojiko's life, and that of the entire village! Before she met him, she had an invisible chain wrapped around her neck, the end leading back to the cruel Arlong. She was trapped, unable to escape her fate but he appeared and heedless of all dangers involved, ripped that chain into pieces forcibly and avenged Bellemere's death. She vowed that she would do devote her power to help him, whether it be writing maps or stealing money. Hell, even if he asked her for sex, she wouldn't refuse. She owed him too much.

With these vows and loyalties crystallizing within them, the fate of the world changed.

Luffy was born to conquer and lead but what was a king without his vassals?

* * *

Omake:

_The Lottery Lottery Fruit : Kagu Kagu no mi Part 6_

_Arlong had seen many things in his time. He had traveled the Grand Line with the Sunny pirates before taking residence in East Blue. He had seen nations fall. He had seen people with devil fruits that allowed them to turn into fire. He had seen the cruelty of the World Nobles but he had never seen this._

_"SHOCKWVE FLATULENCE! SHOCKWAVE FLATULENCE! __SHOCKWAVE FLATULENCE! __SHOCKWAVE FLATULENCE!"_

___WHY THE FUCK WAS THERE SOMEONE SHOOTING EXPLOSIVE FARTS EVERYWHERE?_

___"What kind of dumb devil fruit is that! Doesn't you butt hole burn from all that gas?" Arlong gasped._

___Luffy paused in the middle of his gassing. "It's not a dumb devil fruit. I ate the Lottery Lottery fruit and got the powers of the Kagu kagu no mi! I'm a gas man!"_

___Arlong deadpanned. "You still didn't answer the most important question. Does it burn your asshole like that?"_

___"Hmm not really, I could do this all day."_

___"Too bad for you fool, I don't breathe with my nose, see!" Arlong gloated. Indeed, the long serrated nose that Arlong had did not have any nostrils._

___"That's cheating!"_

___"Too bad you weak human, this is the power of evolution!"_

___Luffy argued back. "But how can you smell the sizzling steak and stuff that you eat?"_

___Arlong went silent. "I never ate steak before."_

___Luffy's jaw dropped down in horror. "What! BLASPHEMY!" _

___Arlong sighed. "I was told if I wanted a body like this-" He flexed his muscles, chest popping the buttons. "I had to have a strict diet of Abalone, Lobster, Sea cucumber and Royal Kelp Seaweed only."_

___Luffy was stunned. "Does that really work?"_

___Arlong checked out his rippling muscles and looked in the mirror at his eight feet frame. "Pretty well. If I ate steak like Jimbei does, I'll be as round as a whale, not cool bro."_

___"Say can you recommend me this diet, I wanna grow taller too."_

___"It's pretty expensive if you buy it though. I have to import my goods from the Grand Line. Why do you think I charge so much money for my "protection fee?"_

___Luffy was silent. "Because you're a bad guy?"_

___"No! I'm simply misunderstood! My dream is to create a monopoly on the valuable sea food like lobster, abalone, sea cucumber and stuff like that! I want this business to spread throughout the four blues, starting with the East Blue."_

_Luffy called him out. "Liar! then why did you kill Nami's mother!"_

_Arlong scoffed. "She made Shark Fin soup that day. That's the one thing I can't tolerate. My other goal is to stop humans from killing sharks just so they can eat the fin!"_

_"Wow. Awkward... Um... so do we still fight or what?"_

_"What did you come here for anyway?"_

_Luffy thought a bit. "Well, I was thinking that I'd have to beat you up so Nami could join my crew."_

_"I'll let her go with you in trade for something of equal value."_

_Luffy's eyes gleamed. "How would you like the legendary recipe for the ultimate takaoyaki sauce that I found? With it, creating a monopoly won't be a dream. Here have a taste." Luffy pulled out a bottle of takoyaki sauce from the back of his pants and let Arlong try some. _

___"Wow this is so good! It has such rich and profound flavor. This sauce would go well with any sea food! Alright, you have a deal!"_

___"Alright!"_

___A year from this incident, Arlong struck it rich with the new takoyaki sauce. It was mass produced and sold to all of the seas, making more money than ever. Sauces took years to spoil, making it good for months of shipping on long voyages. There were rarely any pirate ships that did not have a bottle of the sauce on a long voyage. The villagers that used to pay his "Protection fees" now all work in his factories and life was good._

___Arlong rolled back into his velvet chair and sipped his cognac. He cracked open a grin, showing a mouthful of gold teeth._

___"Best deal ever."_

* * *

___SBS CORNER START!_

___Call015: Does Luffy have power over Storms? _

___ES: Wow storms, that would be crazy if he did! I don't think he's strong enough for that yet. Next!_

___KazeKira: -sigh- Another poor author with out originality, I had such hopes too._

___I can't wait for the day an Author can actually write a story without brutally smothering their character all for the sake of not wanting the character to be placed under 'godly'..._

___Authors like you are worse than those who stupidly over-power their characters, at least they have a backbone_

**ES**: **Don't worry you poor fool, Luffy ate the Kami Kami no mi, of course he's going to be godly but no one turns into a God over night. Your idea of a God is different from my idea of a God. When one is a God, they have total control over their domain and the rules that apply to normal people do not bound them. So suck it up and go read some Naruto shoots rasengan's from his ass stories. Those are the right type for you. **

_Artjr: The main reason you're getting less reviews is because everyone likes your story so far. No one can complain about grammar or content (unless they're ranting about you putting in their favorite pairing), etc. Keep up the good work._

_ES: I get about 1000 hits per chapter. If 1/10 people leave a review, I'd get 100 reviews. That's more than all the reviews I have combined together for the last six chapters! While I'm not really a review whore, (I am) People tend to read stories with higher reviews. Once i get about 200+ reviews, I don't care about it but until then, please support me by reviewing! You can think of it this way, some people support Oda by buying the manga (A.K.A leaving me a signed review.) But some people go online and read OP for free (A.K.A leaving an anonymous review with no login required). Which one are you? ^^_

T-biggz: Where did Zoro get the two swords from after he broke them in the fight? And what is it with Luffy knows about sexual nature when referring to Usopp then he doesn't when talking to Sanji, what the hell man?

ES: Well, Zoro isn't exactly poor anymore after turning in the bounties, It's very easy to replace cheap katana when you have money. He got ripped off too, he asked the first two guys holding swords and they ripped him off for 250,000 berries a piece for the sword. Normal swords cost 100,000 berries. And for Luffy, he thought Sanji said Sausage feast. Luffy is pretty absent minded so he hears things incorrectly at times.

Okay! SBS CORNER IS OVER! See you next week~

* * *

A/N: So this is the longest chapter I have ever written. 12k+ words! next chapter will be a bit shorter.

We have a lot of new techniques introduced in this chapter.

The "Instant-kill Hammer Pellet Combo!** SHRAPNEL STAR EXPLOSION!**" technique that Usopp invented was inspired by something I read about. If anyone reads Baki the grappler, there is a scene when someone shoved a handful of bullets into the yakuza's mouth and slammed it shut. The bullets exploded in a chain reaction. This is a totally kick ass technique. The only down side is...

In a real fight, no one would really stand around and let you shove something in their mouth.

Usopp was lucky in the regards that he smashed Chew's mouth beforehand with a hammer.

Also, **ZORO CUTTING THROUGH METAL! ** This is not a 100% success rate technique. To cut through metal, Zoro has to concentrate and if his concentration falters due to pain, high speed movements, the technique will fail! It's not an automatic technique that applies to every slash he makes. Also, this technique can only cut through Iron. Most cheap katana are made by folding iron and ridding the blades of impurities but rarely is it refined to the point where it becomes steel. so most cannon and cannonballs in the One piece world are made from Iron. Things like the Wadō Ichimonji is made from steel and *spoiler alert* the Pacifista made from a refined metal even harder than steel but for our purpose, most of the metal is iron.

If you have any questions about Luffy's new techniques, feel free to ask. My personal favorite is _Path of Lightning. _ Imagine him zigzagging through the air in a fight. This technique will be very vital to Luffy's fighting style and future title. It burns stamina like nothing and he can use for a maximum of about five minutes.

Remember to leave comments and SBS questions

Last but not least, review! My current goal is to top 100 reviews by chapter 8!

Viking out~


	8. Chapter 8: The Town Of Beginning and End

**_AN: THANK YOU FOR ALL THE REVIEWS! IMPORTANT INFO DOWN AT THE SBS AND A/N! ENJOY THE CHAPTER~_**

**Warning**: Mature themes with this chapter. Kiddies be good and go to bed.

* * *

One Piece: The Lottery Lottery Fruit!

Who in their right mind would gamble their power devil fruit power based on a lottery? Monkey D. Luffy did. It is said that crazy people have crazy luck. You have the Paramecia, the Zoan, the Logia, and the Mythical Zoan. Enter the long forgotten devil fruit. The Deity Deity Fruit : Model Xxxxxxx

* * *

Chapter 7: The Town of Beginning and End

Arlong's defeat was the event of the century, or at least it was to Commi Island. Arlong had many islands under his control, Commi Island was one of the few but it was his home base. News of his defeat spread rather quickly. Den-Den Mushi's rang bur-leep bur-leep bur-leep as everyone called one another, spreading the word.

Arlong was dead.

And the most sought after knowledge?

The identity of the one who saved them from Arlong, their savior.

Cocoyashi Village was surprisingly tight lipped about their mysterious savior. There was no way it could be the Marines. Every Marine that tried to take down Arlong met a watery grave. After ten years, the Marines gave up and several of the more corrupt ones even worked with Arlong, turning a blind eye.

The ones who defeated Arlong and his crew must have been bounty hunters. Several notable names were whispered but the one mentioned most was the Pirate Hunter.

Roronoa Zoro.

The man was said to possess demon-like skills. His notorious reputation rose to the point where many pirates hunted for the swordsman's head rather than vice versa. The said swordsman was currently training with heavy weights. His entire torso was wrapped in bandages, each movement pulled tautly at the stitches that held his wounds shut.

Aside from the wound he received from Mihawk, the wounds he received from his little trip through the Marine base were mostly healed. Due to his near death incident, he had delved into a new level of swordsmanship. He had always thought that all he needed was physical strength and the guts to do what it takes to take it to the highest level but he found out that he was wrong.

When he cut through the iron cannon ball, he instinctively knew that there was an more subtle way of improving one's swordsmanship. What good was he if his opponent could cut through his katana? He shuddered at the thought of the Wadō Ichimonji being destroyed. Kuina's sword was his most prized possession, he would be damned if he let it break before he attained the status as the greatest Swordsman.

Zoro felt himself enter a pseudo-trance, the world had gone oddly quiet, similar to his near death experience. But as hard as he concentrated, he could not hear the breathing. The only thing he could hear was the muted sound of the ocean and the sound of wind breezing past his ears. His ears twitched slightly as he heard the crunch of leaves from behind him. Whirling around, he turned around in time to block a karate chop to the head.

"Geez, What did the doctor say about resting? This is the fourth time I caught you sneaking out to train you know." Nojiko pouted. The green haired swordsman growled in annoyance. Ever since he rescued her, she followed him around like a mother hen. It really got in the way of his training sometimes. Nami's sister was every bit as devious and smart. Zoro had wondered what sort of parent it took to raise both girls to be so independent and headstrong.

"I'm fine, You're bothering my meditation I need to be able to hear the 'breathing' again. Only then can I grow stronger." Zoro waved his hand in a shooing motion. "Go bother Sanji or something."

Nojiko sat down next to Zoro who was sitting with his legs crossed lotus style. She peered at him from the side. His eyes were closed narrowly in concentration and she could sense his frustration. Tugging on his shirt, she pulled him down until his head rested on her lap. Zoro's eyes snapped open, looking past the underside of her considerably large breast to her face. He stammered a bit. "H-Hey! What are you doing?"

She put a finger to his lips. "You need your rest. You're not going to be able to hear this 'breathing' or whatever if you strain yourself. Since you did save me, I'll let you use my lap for a pillow while you take a nap. This is special service you know!" She finished, giving him a slight glare. She didn't want him getting any ideas that she was 'that' type of girl. Zoro was about to protest but there was a second voice in his head that convinced him that it wasn't a bad idea. After his alcohol, the next best thing he liked was a good nap and Nojiko's lap did feel pretty comfy.

Basking under the warmth of the Sun, he was lulled to sleep by the sound of the crashing waves and the gentle breathing of Nojiko. The training could wait for a bit he mused.

* * *

"Are you sure it's fine to go in?" The orange haired navigator of the Straw Hat Crew looked dubiously at her captain.

Luffy gave her a cheeky grin. "Of course it's fine! Whenever I get hurt, I just float around in the water and I'll heal up! Isn't it like that for everybody?" Nami felt her eye twitched. Aside from food and battle, Luffy was as idiotic as they come. "No way. Think about it Luffy, had you ever had salt rubbed into an open wound before?"

Luffy craned his neck to the side and pondered. "Well there was once when I bit my tongue and then ate a salted fish, boy did that hurt." Nami nodded. "Good. Now you know that the ocean is basically salt water right? Why would basking in salt water make your wounds any better? That's crazy!" Luffy shrugged and kicked off his sandals, followed by his vest.

"It's not the salt water you know, there's this energy that the ocean has. Normal water has it too but not as strong. When I go in the water, that energy helps me heal up. It'll take me three more days and then I'll be good as new!" As he finished speaking, he started pulling down his shorts when Nami karate chopped him. "PUT THAT BACK ON! NO SKINNY DIPPING HERE!"

Luffy rubbed his head and grimaced, "What? If you want, you can go in naked too, I don't mind. You don't have to spoil the fun by being jealous." Nami gave him a livid glare. "I'm not jealous damn it! Everyone knows you don't just jump into the ocean in your birthday suit when there's a girl around!" Luffy looked at his shorts and sighed. "I did it all the time back home at my village. Fine, if you're so uptight about it, I'll just leave it on." He left his hat hanging on one of the branches and jumped into the ocean with a splash.

"Wow this is great! I'm so glad I can swim unlike other Devil Fruit users!"

Nami paused. "Wait, you're a devil fruit user! Why aren't you sinking then? What is your devil fruit power anyway? I thought you just used the Rokushiki!"

"Well. I ate the Lottery Lottery fruit and got some random ability. I don't know the name of the Devil fruit but it gave me three items. The Yata no Kagami, The Ten Notch Sword, and this necklace of Magatama." He lifted up the necklace for her to take a look. She had seen in previously before from the Buggy incident but now that he was in the ocean, the Magatamas looked even more beautiful.

They were fashioned from some sort of crystal or gem that looked like jade but the normal green color was absent. Instead, they were of a combination of every shade of blue she had ever seen, meshing until they glowed with an inner shine. There were roughly about eight or ten Magatama, strung together with a dark black string. Like most girls, Nami liked collecting pretty that she found out it was a devil fruit generated item, she was even more intrigued. She was pretty sure she heard of those items he listed but from where? She would have to go through her books again and find their origin.

Luffy gripped her wrist, pulling her close to him so he could observe the new tattoo on her shoulder. She had the doctor remove Arlong's mark but it left an ugly scar. Replacing it, she had an tattoo of a pinwheel and an orange etched to cover the scar. He traced the design with his finger and whispered to her. "Does it hurt?"

She felt a bit put out by the way he was examining her arm, his gaze sweeping smoothly across her skin. "Yeah a little bit. All tattoos are like that." Luffy suddenly leaned forward and delicately licked her arm, right over where the tattoo was. She gasped, feeling embarrassed. "What are you doing!" Luffy tilted his head up at her as continued to trace the design. "When it hurts, licking it like this makes it feels better. So I'm helping you out." He said it with such innocence and naivety, Nami did not have the heart to pull away and stop him.

He continued lapping at her skin, sending her nerve tingling. There was a rush of warmth as blood traveled to her lower belly and to her face. She groaned internally. She couldn't believe that such a simple and innocent gesture was arousing her. And from Luffy no less! He seemed to have no idea of the reaction he was drawing from her as he continued to flick his tongue over her arm. Surprisingly, the pain from the tattoo was fading and was being replaced by the feeling of pleasure. She pulled her hand out of his grip and turned around.

"I got to go. Nojiko needs me to go shopping with her. Bask in the water a little more." She walked quickly away from Luffy, back turned to him so he couldn't see her flushed face. Sneaking a peak behind, she could see his toned abs on his long torso as he floated on his back peacefully, not unlike a sea otter.

Hmm, maybe there was nothing wrong with her. Luffy did have one hell of a body. She giggled to herself as she went off to find Nojiko. It was time for some gossiping and sisterly bonding.

Much to her surprise, she found Nojiko and Zoro together. The normally uptight and on guard Zoro was resting his head on her sister's lap. He had turned around during his sleep and was now lying on his side, his face snuggling between her valley of her legs. The biggest surprise was Nojiko didn't seem to mind one bit and was instead, threading her hand though his short tousled green hair. Nami grinned mischievously and gave her sister the evil eye.

Nojiko felt an uncomfortable gaze on her and looked up. Her hand froze like a thief caught in act.

Busted.

Nami gave her the "I know you have feelings for him" look. Nojiko glared back with the "Don't be so nosy, I'll tell you later" look. The navigator grinned and gave her the peace sign before walking off whistling a jaunty tune. They definitely had a lot to gossip about tonight.

* * *

Luffy slammed his hand down on the table, rattling the silver ware. He had an unusually agitated look on his face.

"40 Million Berry Bounty. Roronoa Zoro, the Pirate Hunter." Nami picked up the paper and read the article attached. "Santoryu Swordsman, Pirate hunter Zoro is wanted for the destruction of Naval base 16. He is dangerous and has defeated several notable pirates. It appears that he picked up piracy himself after the defeating Lieutenant Axe-handed Morgan with his partner Straw Hat Luffy. He is also accredited to the defeat of Sham and Buchi of the Black Neko Pirates, along with the defeat of the real Kuro of the hundred plans. After razing Naval base 16 and making off with all the treasure (Approximately 40 Million Berries) He defeated Arlong and destroyed Arlong Park, See Attached picture Below."

Zoro picked up the wanted poster. They had taken it when he had a particularly viscous expression on his face when he beheaded Arlong. "Not the best picture but it'll do."

Luffy's fingers dug into the wooden surface of the table as he bunched his fist together. "This isn't fair! I bust my ass beating Arlong and you get a 40 Million Bounty for taking out a Marine base! How is it possible my First mate got a bounty before I did?" He cried dramatically in the corner of the room and Zoro sweat dropped.

"Think of it this way Luffy! This is only the East Blue. When we get to the Grand Line, You'll get a bounty for sure!." Usopp consoled.

Luffy frowned depressingly. "But I want to get a bounty too..."

Sanji was the only calm one. He smoked his cigarette and lectured Luffy. "Think of it this way. You get to be the mysterious captain of the Straw Hat Pirates. Isn't that even cooler?" Luffy's eyes lit up. "You're right Sanji! I'm the Mysterious Boss! The most bad-ass one out there."

Everyone sighed in relief as Luffy cheered up. Who knew what would happen if Luffy somehow got the idea that destroying a Marine base equates to getting a bounty. Luffy in his idiocy would probably sail around the East Blue and wreck havoc among all the bases he could find before entering the Grand Line.

While they were still considered "Pirates", they still understood the importance of the role the Marines played in peacekeeping. They were the ones in charge of civilian protection from bandits, pirates, and general law breakers. The best course for them was to put up the Straw Hat Flag and make their way into the Grand Line.

Sanji presented the dishes with a flourish. "Enjoy yourself. This food will help you on the road to recovery. For Luffy, Sauteed Sea King Liver with Carbon Kelp. The liver helps builds immunity and promote internal recovery." Luffy clapped and dug into the dish with great gusto. "Wow, this Sea King Liver is good!" he said as he sprayed bits and pieces of chewed up liver on the table.

Nami conked him over the head, making Luffy bite his tongue. She dragged him off to the side where she proceeded to lecture him on the importance of table manners. Luffy stubbornly refused to listen. "The only manners I need is to eat the food they make. Why do I have to use a knife, fork, or spoon?" he whined.

A sly smile crept across Nami's face as she rubbed his back consolingly. "Think of it this way. You're going to become the Pirate King right? That means you need to be able to do everything with class. Having good table manners make people respect you more." Luffy fell for it bait, hook, line, and sinker.

While Nami taught Luffy the proper use of a fork, Nojiko was sampling Sanji's food with surprise. "Wow, this is so good. Where did you learn to cook like this?" Sanji teleported to Nojiko's side and started fawning over her. "My dear Nojiko. I learned these secret recipes from this scroll I bought. It was an old and faded scroll labeled S e c r e t _ _ _ b a k a R e c i p e # 100. They had about twenty dishes that helps build the body and promote overall health."

Nojiko looked at her Papaya Butter Melon dish in surprise. "Does this mean I'm going to grow bulky muscles?" Sanji looked horrified. "Of course not! The butter melon promotes smooth silky skin and the Papaya helps enhance breast growth." He trailed off as his gaze lingered on her considerably large bust and blood started trickling down his nose.

Nojiko looked down at her food contemplating whether or not to finish it. She was used to people looking at her body, as long as they didn't touch, she didn't mind. Sanji wiped his nose with his sleeve and cleared his throat. "Sorry, I didn't mean to stare, I was just ... enchanted by your beauty." She gave him a coy smile. "It's fine Sanji but my throat is feeling a bit parch."

Sanji vanished into thin air and came back with a glass of freshly squeezed Lemonade Pomegranate Juice. She looked to the side where Zoro was staring at her dish and grinned. It wouldn't hurt to grow her body some. She had an inkling that a certain swordsman wouldn't mind her growth in certain areas.

Usopp was juggled his Hell Chili pellets in the air, "So whats our plan next? Are we going to enter the Grand Line?" He secretly flicked them into Luffy's food when no one was looking. Nami pulled out a basic map detailing the structure of the world. "We're going to cross the Red Line and enter the Grand Line by using the reverse mountain. The four currents from the four Seas will generate a stream that would push the ship up the mountain and drop us off on the Grand Line."

Luffy poked around at his food with his fork. "Hey! What's this red marble thing?" Usopp cursed inwardly, He had hoped that Luffy would just stuff the food down his gullet. He needed a test subject for his new star. Usopp smirked, "That's the ultimate candy I invented. If you eat it, your tongue will experience a whole new experience." Luffy smiled and lifted the marble to his mouth.

"YOU EAT IT!" Luffy said as he shoved all three marbles into Usopp's mouth. He gave the sharp shooter a chop to the neck to make Usopp reflexively swallow. Usopp gagged and his face turned red, he choked a bit before belching out a gout of to avoid letting his straw hat suffer a horrible fate. The rest of the crew laughed as they watched Usopp continued to burp out sparks of flames. Luffy huffed. "Don't try to trick me like that again. I could smell the chili in the candy."

Luffy adjusted his hat and addressed his crew. "Okay, now that Zoro got a bounty, Bounty hunters and High ranking Marines will be after us. We're going to Louge Town and stock up. Then we're going to head into the GRAND LINE!"

Nojiko hesitated before speaking up, "Um Luffy. Is it possible if I come with you guys?"

Nami gasped at her sister's request. Nojiko may be older than she was but she didn't have any experience outside of Commi island. "Nojiko, it's dangerous out there! You should stay here and enjoy your freedom!" Nojiko protested, "I'm a grown girl now. How is it more dangerous out there than it was when Arlong lorded over us? All the, more reason for me to come with you. This is the first time in my life where I can go see the World! When Arlong was around, We weren't able to leave the island at all. Don't you want to go on adventures with me too? You're my only relative left!"

Nami really couldn't find counter argument to Nojiko's reasoning. She turned to her captain. "Luffy! You know how dangerous the ocean is. You decide whether or not she can join."

Luffy contemplated a bit. "What Nami said isn't untrue. You have almost zero battle experience. I'm not sure what role you would fit into this group but if it were up to me, I'd say yes." Nojiko cheered. Luffy held up his hand, "Don't get so excited yet. Since I'm half-half, Zoro's going to have the final say in this as the First Mate."

Nami groaned inwardly. After witnessing the incident in the afternoon, she was 90% sure Zoro would say yes.

As the First-Mate, Zoro felt that Nojiko would be extra baggage on the crew, just one more person to protect. As he was about to say "No", he caught the expression on her face. She was looking at him with a pleading look. He could tell how much she wanted to go along with them. Against his better judgment, he reasoned that if anything did happen, he would protect her.

"Fine, I guess. No point in separating sisters." He grumbled. "Yes, Thank you so much!" Nojiko cheered as she gave Zoro a deep hug. Zoro froze up awkwardly when he felt her chest press against his and for the first time in years, he realized exactly how much he had been repressing his hormones. Sanji was chewing his handkerchief in anger and grief, tears streaming from his eyes. "Noojikooo-chaan, Where's my hug?"

Luffy clapped and cheered. "Let's celebrate our new Nakama! Nojiko-chan! Give us a quick introduction!"

Nojiko bowed and smiled at them. "I'm Nojiko, Nami's older sister. I'm good at tailoring clothes and making accessories. You can say I'm a fashionista. I can design the hottest styles for each of you so when you make your appearance, you'll look totally awesome. You got to dress to impress you know." Luffy clapped with his hands and feet, "Wow! That's great. Can you design something for me then?"

Nojiko appraised Luffy's current attire. "The sandals are going to have to go. I guess we can do something with the Vest, a black one. For the pants, we're going to need some dark long pants, no more shorts. I'll make it so it's easy to move in." "Luffylooked at his current attire, "Cool! I only wore these because they were the cheapest things I could find."

Nojiko pulled out a measuring tape and measured his height. "Hmm, Five feet eleven inches, Almost six feet. I can work with that."

Zoro rolled out a barrel of grog and sliced off the top. He dipped his mug into the barrel, filling his cup with frothy grog. "It's time to work the booze guys!" "Luffy dipped his mug in and cheered, "Hell yeah, To our new comrade, KAMPAI!"

They consumed glass after glass of alcohol, pitchers after pitchers of alcohol, and eventually barrels of grog before they came to a stop. Usopp being the town boy he was, never drank liquor prior to his departure from his hometown. He was out like the light before the first barrel was finished. The blonde cook went down after twenty three glasses against Zoro. As a cook, Sanji had to wake up early in the morning to prepare the ingredients for a days work at the restaurant. Thus, his alcohol tolerance was lower than that of Zoro.

Nojiko seemed to share the same high alcohol tolerance as Nami did. Nami and Luffy paired off in a match as did Nojiko and Zoro. They each worked through a barrel of grog when they felt themselves approach their limit. Nojiko hiccuped as she leaned her head drowsily against the swordsman's chest. Wrapping her arms around him, she snuggled into his warm frame and fell asleep. Her lack of guard and her ease around him imparted into Zoro who similarly just held her there in his arms and closed his eyes. She was nestled between his legs, one knee propped up to support his katana, ready to act in a moments notice.

Luffy looked over at the heart warming scene and was about to interrupt when Nami dragged him off, pulling and stumbling their way through the dark night. Under the influence of a shit load of alcohol, Luffy was still vaguely aware of what was happening. "Mhmz Wheere aare we gooing?" he slurred. Hidden within the trees was a little wooden cabin that no one would find unless they knew it was there. Nami slammed him against the side of the wall and leaned in close, their breath mingling as they were inches apart from one another.

Nami had high alcohol tolerance but there were unavoidable side effects. While she wouldn't black out, her inhibitions progressively unlocked themselves. She was no longer capable of controlling her rational thoughts. Right now she was running on pure emotion and desires. She trailed her hand down his chest and chiseled abs and whispered huskily into his ear. "You know, I was thinking of a way to thank you for everything you ave done for me. Defeating Arlong, saving Nojiko, and every other good thing that has happened since I met you." Luffy grabbed her hand, stopping it from teasing the nape of his neck. He murmured quietly into her ear. "Mhmm, think of anything yet?"

There was a overwhelmingly majority of her brain that protested her actions. Sleeping with your captain right before embarking on a long voyage was a very bad idea but the current majority of her brain was fighting off the alcohol and there was a part of Nami that truly desired Luffy. Nami leaned up a bit and closed the contact between them. The electrifying tension vanished as they devoured each others lips hungrily. Nami thought she would have the upper hand on Luffy. Her image of Luffy was a cherry boy who probably had never held a girl's hand. On the other hand, she had no qualms about kissing or heavy petting, she just never debased herself to the point where she would use sex to trick money.

Much to her surprise and genuine pleasure, Luffy proved her wrong by expertly dominating the heated exchange of their tongues. She used every bit of will power to pull away from his searing kiss, which left her burning from her hair to the tip of her toes, and licked her swollen lips. Sweeping her hair out of her eyes, she grabbed Luffy by the collar. She kicked open the door to the cabin and yanked him in after her. Luffy barely had enough time to snatch his straw hat out of the air before the door slammed shut behind them.

* * *

"Ohh my god, my head. Turn off the lights." Nami moaned into her pillow as the sunlight streamed through the open window. There was a pleasant soreness that reverberated through out her body. Bits and pieces of last night flashed through her pounding skull, forcing her to sit up with a jolt. Despite the killer hangover, Nami realized just how royally she screwed up. After this incident, things were going to be awkward like hell. She didn't even need to check to know that they had sex last night.

Nami pushed aside the sheets and put her clothes back on quickly, leaving Luffy sprawled across the bed in his birthday suit. She winced as she pulled up her pants, feeling a slight pain twinge at the movement. her eyes caught sight of Luffy's flaccid member and she gaped. No wonder she was so sore, Luffy was hung!

She buried her face into her hands and moaned in embarrassment. Now that the alcohol wore off, she didn't have the confidence or the readiness to look at Luffy in his full glory without embarrassment.

Nami threw the blanket over his lower half and shook his shoulder. "Hey Luffy, wake up!"

Her captain grumbled before rolling over and sleeping again. Nami felt annoyed at Luffy's stubbornness. She had to get back to the others with Luffy before they woke up! She said the magic words, "Luffy, the steak is ready."

Luffy sat up and looked around, wide awake. "Where?" When he couldn't locate the food, he looked down and noticed his nakedness. "Oh", he said. Nami resisted the urge to throttle him, she slept with him and all he said was "Oh"? Luffy threw off the blanket and stood up to stretch, giving Nami another excellent view. She turned her face away, flustered. "Don't you have any decency? Put your clothes on!"

The dark haired youth yawned and picked up the shredded remains of his red vest. "Not much left of it to put back on. You were kind of wild trying to take it off." Nami blushed. "Don't make up stories. It wasn't like that." Luffy pulled on his shorts and put his hat back on. "Let's get back, I wonder if Sanji made breakfast yet." Nami blinked. That was it? That was his reaction after having sex with her?

"Um Luffy, how was it last night? What's going to happen from now on?" she asked shyly. Luffy tousled his bed hair and smiled at her. "Last night was great! it's been a while since I did that. If you ever want to do the nasty with me, I'm up for it!" He said with a child like grin.

Nami felt her jaw drop. The naive idiot actually lost his virginity before she did and he acted like it was nothing important. "LUFFY. GET BACK HERE! WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'IT'S BEEN A WHILE'? I'M NOT SOME CHEAP HOOKER YOU CAN SLEEP WITH FOR YOUR OWN PERVERSE PLEASURE YOU KNOW!" she yelled at him. She felt angry, betrayed, and used. Luffy turned his head and looked at her blankly. "I never said any of that", he stated neutrally.

Nami walked up to his face, glaring murderously at him "Then what did you mean then?"

"I used to do it with Makino-san before I left the village. She taught me that sex was part of being an adult. Usually, it's the girls that come to me and wants to do the nasty but I don't do it unless I know them very well. Makino-san told me it feels very good for the girls, at least it was for her. So I help her out sometimes, it feels good for me too so why not?" he said with a straight face.

Nami was speechless. "Okay, you know what? Forget this happened. Let's just pretend we got drunk off our asses and I found you floating half naked in the ocean." Luffy looked down at his dry body. "I don't think they'll believe it." Nami twirled him around and kicked him in the ass, sending him into the shallow water of the coastline. She smirked down at him, "Now they will."

Luffy sputtered, shaking wet hair away from his eyes. "Yeah? WELL YOU SMELL LIKE SEX. SO EXPLAIN THAT!" His eyes widened as flames from hell wreathed around Nami and she picked up a boulder. "HOLY SHIT NAMI PUT THAT ROCK DOWN! IF YOU DROP THAT ON MY HEAD, DEVIL FRUIT OR NO DEVIL FRUIT, I'll DROWN!"

"DIE BASTARD."

Thus was the start of their dysfunctional relationship.

* * *

Nojiko could tell that there was something different between her sister and their captain. While Luffy went around acting his normal self, Nami sent venomous glares at the back of the captain's head. If looks could kill, Luffy's straw hat would be gone from Nami's hell glare. For instance, when the newspaper seagull courier raised the price of the paper, Nami didn't even complain one bit! For a money loving girl like Nami, that was a bad sign. Nojiko gave a quick scan of the ship for the other crew members.

Luffy was sitting on the prow of the ship, trying to catch some fish with nothing but a fishing line and a hook. She didn't have to worry about him. Sanji was preparing lunch in the kitchen below and he wouldn't be coming out anytime soon. Zoro was sleeping in the crows nest up on the mast, she doubt he would get up any time soon. That left Usopp who was working on his new chili sauce. She sauntered over, "Usopp. What are you making?"

The sharpshooter eyed the bright red concoction he whipped up and stood up. "This is my revised Ultimate Hell Fire Sauce. If it gets into someone's eyes, they will be in pain..." Usopp slipped on a rolling tangerine that just happened to have fell off the trees and spilled the liquid over his eyes. He screamed in horror and pain as flames shot from his eyes. Wasting no time, he ran into the cabin to wash his eyes out, leaving Nami alone with her at last.

"Okay spill it Nami, what's going on between you and Luffy. You were fine one day and the next, you're out to kill him!" Nojiko cornered Nami behind the tangerine trees. Nami looked away, "Nothing happened."

"Stop trying to deny it, I can tell when something is bothering you. just tell me. You know you can trust me." Nami sighed knowing that once Nojiko used that argument, there was no way she could hold back from telling the truth. "Well. I slept with him."

Nojiko was speechless. She thought they originally had an argument over the decision to let her join but instead they had sex? "Wait a minute, so let me get his straight. You're pissed at him because he slept with you? Don't tell me he raped you." She said with a dangerous tone.

Nami shook her head vehemently, "No. It's not like that. From what I remember, I was the one who made a move on him. I just got pissed because he didn't really care that it was my first time. Apparently, there was some girl named Makino that he had sex with regularly." Nami sighed bitterly.

Finding out that Luffy was quite experienced when it came to sex was surprising. He didn't look like the type to fool around with his boyish looking face. "Guess you really can't judge a book by it's cover", Nojiko thought. She grinned evilly, eager to ply Nami for information on her first time. "So how was it?" Nami feigned innocence. "How was what?"

Nojiko leaned close in and winked at her, "You know, his penis size. Was it big enough?" Nami pulled back and blushed, stammering. "So he is big! Did he last long? It would be a waste if he was a premature ejaculator."

"Well... I don't remember much but I woke up feeling great. I think he gave me multiple orgasms..." Nami started looking less tense and Nojiko knew that her little attention diversion was working well. Now for the final nail in the coffin. "Does this mean you want to do it again with him?"

Nami immediately protested, "No way! He even offered to find him if he wanted me to do the nasty with him again. There's no way I'm going to let him have his way, especially not with his nonchalant attitude." Her sister chuckled slyly, "Ah ha! That means once he takes it seriously, you won't say no right?" Nami spluttered, exasperated with the verbal interrogations. It was time for some counter punches.

"Oh yeah? Whats with you and this green hair swordsman I know? Is there anything going on between you two?" This time it was Nojiko's turn to blush, "Nothing yet but I do kind of like him. There's just something about him that draws me to him. I like his seriousness, the danger that hangs around him, and his attitude in general. He's very straight forward and proper but once I start using my tricks on him, let's see how long he can keep his cool."

Nami grinned like a shark. "Admit it, you just want to see his flustered face don't you?" There was nothing Nojiko could deny. She and Nami knew each other too well. Growing up they way they did, there were no secrets between them because they had only each other to rely on.

"I see it! Logue Town!" Luffy's excited voice snapped them out of their moment as the rest of the crew gathered to observe. There was admiration in Luffy's eyes and the rest of the crew could hear the awe in his voice when he spoke. "This is the town of beginning and end. This is where the Pirate King was born and put to death. When I sail around the world and come here again, I WILL BE THE PIRATE KING!"

Nami clapped her hands to get their attention. "Okay guys. Since Zoro over here has a bounty on his head, we're going to have to keep a low profile. Everyone partner up and meet back here at the end of the day. Pick your partners now." Nojiko edged over to Zoro's side and Nami stood next to Luffy. Sanji and Usopp looked at each other.

"I need two swords for replacement, how am I going to get them? They'll know it's me if I ask for two more swords." Zoro felt uncomfortable without all three swords. With one sword, he was down to 40% of his fighting capabilities.

Luffy raised his hand. "Ohh! I'll get them for you! You need two really good one's right? If I can't find two, you can get better ones at the Grand Line."

Zoro sighed, he didn't feel comfortable without all three swords but there was no helping it.

"Alright Sanji and Usopp team up and get the supplies for the journey. Zoro and Nojiko, we'll meet up at the podium where the Pirate King was executed and then leave!"

Nojiko stopped them and rolled out a portable rack. "Hang on! This time, you all have to wear the outfits I designed for you! It may be simple but if you want anyone to take you seriously, you can't look like some country hicks. Take a look and see if you like it!"

"For Luffy! As a captain, he needs to look more respectable! Because of the high possibility that the clothes are going to be destroyed in a fight, It has a simple design so making a replacement would be easy. A white short sleeved button up shirt on the bottom followed by a dark vest over it. Embroidered onto the vest will be our trade mark Straw Hat insignia. Try it on with the dark long pants and the leather shoes."

Luffy started stripping but a death glare from Nami made him pause and go inside to change. When he walked back out, the very atmosphere around him changed. Without the red vest and blue shorts, Luffy actually looked decent. Luffy was the epitome of youth and vigour compressed into the form of a young man. With proper clothing on, they were reminded of the reason they followed him in the first place.

There was a charismatic charm Luffy possessed that compelled them to him. The vest and dark pants went a long way of bringing out his natural grace. Nami felt her heart flutter at the sight. Luffy was undeniably handsome.

Luffy stretched a bit , bouncing on the balls of his feet to test the maneuverability of the clothing. "It's good. I can move easily in this. Thanks a lot Nojiko!"

She nodded, pleased that Luffy liked the design. "For Sanji, he already wears a suit so he's good to go. What I can do is add the SH insignia onto your suit. For Usopp, that hair net bandanna has got to go, it's ugly. As a replacement, I chose a black baseball cap with the SH insignia. There's also a pair of rolled-up pants with red suspenders, and a pair of black cow boy boots. Instead of your yellow satchel, I made a red replica out of leather and for accessories, a blue and white striped wrist band."

Usopp grabbed his new outfit and examined it eagerly, "Cool! Thanks a lot! It sure beats these brown overalls."

Nojiko nodded. "I trust Nami well enough for her to pick her own style but for Zoro... As the first mate, I'd say an official looking attire would be nice. I made a suit for you, it's easy to move in and respectable looking. Now when people look at you, they won't think you're a blood thirsty killer."

Zoro frowned and crossed his arms. "No."

There was a pause, this was the first time someone voiced a complaint. "But why?" Nojiko felt her resolve shaken. Was there something wrong with her design? She made sure to put the most care into his attire.

"It's fine but it looks too much like that crap cook's suit."

Sanji lashed out with a heel kick at Zoro who ducked. "You damn marimo! How dare you make such a comparison!"

Luffy's voice cut through the air. "Zoro. Make up your mind. Are you going to keep wearing what you normally wear, or the suit that Nojiko made with her hard work?" When the question was phrased like that, there was but one answer Zoro could give.

"I didn't say it was a bad suit, I'm just saying that Sanji makes me look bad in this. This is a great suit Nojiko." He gave her a rare smile. Nojiko nodded and turned around to wipe her eyes. The last thing she wanted to do was to disappoint him.

"Okay gear up guys. We're at Logue Town!"

* * *

"What sort of fish is this?" It was a huge fish, almost the size of a man. There was a little short trunk for the nose but appearances aside, there was no doubt that it was tasty. The burly fisherman rubbed his hands together proudly. "It's a beauty isn't it? I fished her up myself from the South Sea. It's an Elephant Trunk Tuna from the South Blue. Do you want a cut?"

Sanji thought for a moment. Counting in Luffy's share, there wouldn't be enough unless he bought the full fish. Besides, there were a lot of new dishes he wanted to try out. "No, I'll take the entire thing." The fisherman clapped his hands, How generous of you sir!" Usopp wandered off to the side. "Wow these eggs are cheap! Hey boss lady, can I get three dozen for 1000 Berries instead of 2000 Berries?" Sanji shook his head as he watched Usopp haggle with the grocer like a housewife.

After purchasing the needed provisions for a long journey, Sanji followed Usopp around as he went through thrift shops to buy odd items. Sanji looked at the packet of Rubber bands and Balloons that Usopp purchased. "Do you really need this?"Usopp nodded, All I need now are two frying pans and my ultimate weapon will be born!Also, I'll need some sniper goggles." Usopp eventually found a pair of sniper goggles that someone thought were swim goggles and purchased a headphone/ear muffler contraption that he found muted noises. With that they were all set and headed back to the Going Merry.

Meanwhile, Luffy and Nami visited the weapons shop. A balding man with a crest style haircut rubbed his hands eagerly. "Welcome dear customers, Please feel free to choose whatever you need. Old Sword, new Swords, We got them all because we've been in business for two hundred years!" Luffy looked around in awe, indeed the shop was stock piled with every weapon imaginable. "Wow, two hundred years? Anyway, I need two swords. Money is not a problem. I want the best one you have."Ippon-Matsu smirked. "I'm afraid that you can't afford the best sword I have. You should choose two other swords."

Luffy picked up a plain katana. "These are no good. I need two really good swords. Just tell me how much it is for your best sword." Nami stepped on Luffy's toes and whispered, "You don't need to buy good swords for Zoro! Just get him two normal ones!" Luffy frowned at her. "Zoro needs to have good swords. Normal blades won't let Zoro use his full capacity to fight otherwise." The bells to the front door chimed and another customer entered.

It was a young lady wearing dark framed glasses. She had short hair reaching to her chin and she approached the owner. "Um excuse me, I'm here to pick up my sword." Ippon-matsu reached under the counter and handed over a katana with an elaborate sheath. Luffy had stars in his eyes. "Wow lady, you have a really nice sword! Owner, I want something like this!" The lady in question smiled. "This is a Wazamono Grade Sword called Shigure, It might not be one of the 50 skillful Grade Swords but it is still a very nice sword."

Luffy picked up a random sword and tested the edge. "These aren't good enough. Can you pick a sword for me? I don't really know much about them." He laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head. Nami added in her two cents, "Check the 50,000 Berri swords first! We don't have a lot of money." Luffy was about to speak up but Nami stepped on his foot hard. Luffy winced. He needed to ask Nojiko to put some steel protection on the toe section later.

The lady gasped and held up a sword. Cross referencing it with the book she had, she turned to the owner. "This is the Sandai Kietsu! This is a historic sword. How can it only cost 50,000 berries? In the past, the Shodai Kietsu was the best followed by the Nidai Kietsu!" Ippon looked down, "That sword, I can't sell it to you."

Luffy took the sword out and unsheathed it. There was a chill he got from just holding the blade. "It's cursed isn't it" He stated simply. The owner stared at him, "Yes it is. Everyone who has used this sword have ended up suffering a horrible fate. If I sold that sword to you and you died, I would be your killer!"

Luffy laughed. "This sword has a bit of spirit behind it but that's only because it was wielded by the unworthy. I want this sword!" Nami hissed at him, "Luffy, that sword is cursed, I rather not take chances with it. Just get another sword!" Luffy brought the blade to eye level. "Let us see which is stronger. It's curse, or my spirit." Luffy was no stranger to swords that possessed a bit of it's own haki. His Ten notch Sword followed the same principle. Unless the wielder could counter the wild haki the sword innately emanates with their own haki, they would be hard to wield.

In Luffy's case, taming the Kietsu was ridiculously easy compared to his Ten Notch Sword. Luffy imbued the sword with Busōshoku Haki. There was a sharp screech of grating metal before it whined down to a low hum as the energy ran smoothly through the weapon. Luffy grinned broadly, so he could channel haki into normal weapons. He had never really tried it before outside of his own items. "I'll take this, Can you pick another sword for me." Ippon slammed his hands down on the table. "Wait!"

He rushed back into the back area and came out with a beautiful sword. The sword was sheathed in a black lacquered holder and was simple decorated but one could tell it was a good sword. "This sword is my family heirloom. It's one of the 50 _Ryō Wazamono _Grade Swords_. _It's name is Yubashiri, the blade is very sharp, I guarantee it. While my shop isn't the best one this is the best sword I got."

Luffy picked up the sword and marveled at it's lightness. "Wow, this must be very expensive." Ippon nodded, it's my family heirloom. Normally I wouldn't sell it but I can tell you're no ordinary man. I'll part with it for Two Million berries." Nami gasped, "That's a rip off!"

Luffy laughed. "Since it's a family heirloom, why not?" He reached into his back pocket and pulled out two big stacks of cash. Each bundles of 10,000 Berri bills. Nami whacked Luffy over the head. "Where did you get that money?" Luffy smiled nicely at her. "I earned it, this is my portion isn't it?" Nami sighed, Luffy was really adamant about the 50% Treasure tab rule.

"Thanks for the swords!" Luffy turned to the lady who helped pick out the kietsu. "You too lady, You helped me a lot by finding the kietsu. My friend will be happy that he has these awesome swords now." Tashigi blinked. "You mean those swords aren't for yourself?" Luffy grinned. "No, My friend broke his swords and I'm helping him get some new ones. What's your name by the way? I never thanked you formally."

Tashigi adjusted her her glasses and gave him a half bow. "Tashigi. It was nice to meet you. And you are ...?"

Luffy propped the katanas over his shoulder and gave her a parting wave.

"I'm Luffy. Monkey D. Luffy."

* * *

Zoro grumbled as he leaned against the execution platform where the Pirate King was executed. He was sure Luffy would come directly here after buying his swords. Nojiko had purchased him goggles with a green tint for shades in order to hide his identity but as it it, people were already starting to look at them. Nojiko had bought a lot of raw material so she could work on their clothing and changed into a dark dress with slits running along the sides to her thighs. It had a low cut V neckline that showed off Nojiko's tattoo and emphasized her natural assets.

Needless to say, many young men stopped to gawk at her beauty. Nojiko ignored them and crossed her legs elegantly while they sat and waited for Luffy. A lot of young ladies also stopped nearby and giggled at each other while they glanced at Zoro. The suit had really done a lot to bring out Zoro's natural charisma. He had a serious nonchalant attitude that had girls crooning over his scowling face.

There was a sudden explosion that had Zoro on guard. He unsheathed his sword and stood in front of Nojiko to guard her. As the smoke cleared, he recognized the pirates that had invaded the plaza. There was no mistaking that big red nose, It was Buggy the Clown.

Zoro growled. There couldn't have been a worse match up. With Buggy's Devil Fruit powers, his sword was useless. Buggy laughed nefariously while throwing his hands into the air. "RORONOA ZORO! WHERE IS YOUR CAPTAIN THE STRAW HATTED BRAT?" Behind Buggy was his crew from last time, except the lion was missing. But there was one additional person he did not recognize, It was a fairly beautiful lady with dark hair but she was wielding a heavy iron mace the size of her body. She chuckled and walked up to him.

"I hear you know where Luffy is? I've been wanting to see him."

Zoro pointed his sword at the girls neck. "Who are you and what do you want with Luffy?" She sighed dreamily and held her cheek. "How can I forget the first man to strike my cheek? I can still feel the power he had when he struck me." The swordsman narrowed his eyes. If she had Luffy were enemies and she teamed up with Buggy, he would have to get rid of her first. He lashed out, intent on slashing her throat with one blow. The blade reached the ladies neck and slipped across the surface without leaving any cuts.

Zoro leap back and narrowed his eyes in annoyance. There was no doubt about it, the lady was a devil fruit user that prevented her from receiving cuts. "My name is Alvida and I ate the Smooth Smooth fruit. No matter how you hurt me, I will not be able to be scarred on my beautiful skin." Things were getting bad, He was up against two devil fruit users that negated his sword abilities and on top of that he had to guard Nojiko also. If he had three swords, it would be easier to handle them all but he only had one. Pretty soon, the marines will hear the commotion and send someone to capture him for his 40 Million berri bounty.

Where was Luffy?

(At the Logue Town Marine base)

A lone marine rushed through the base and slammed open the door to his Superior's room. "It's an emergency Major Smoker! Pirates have invaded the Execution Plaza!" The marine gulped nervously as the stack of stones collapsed. The lone man sitting in the dark room glanced sharply at the new arrival.

"E-Emer-Emergency sir!"

Major Smoker sighed and puff on his cigars. "I was careful this time but no luck. I have my own style of doing things don't you think? Give me a report on the pirates." He pulled on his white jacket with the kanji for 'Justice' on the back and strapped on his seastone tipped jutte. "Send the first unit to the plaza edge to cut the pirates off and order the rest to shoot from the surrounding buildings"

He strode down the street until a little girl ran into his leg, spilling three scoops of ice cream. He looked down at her and she looked up with teary eyes. "M-My ice cream..." The father immediately apologized. "MAJOR SMOKER! I'M SORRY FOR MY DAUGHTER'S CARELESSNESS!"

Smoker knelt down ominously and put his hand on the girls head. Everyone was wondering what he was going to do. Was he going to hit the girl for getting in his way? Much to the surprise, Smoker did the opposite. He dropped several coins into the girls and and smiled gruffly. "I'm sorry little girl. My pants ate up all your ice cream. Go and buy five scoops this time."

A young female voice called out. "Ahh! I'm sorry I'm late Smoker-san! I went to pick up my sword" It was Sergeant Tashigi. Smoker yelled at her, "Don't take so long next time! You're a disgrace to the marines!" Tashigi winced, "I was helping someone pick a sword and got carried away. It won't happen again next time sir!"Smoker nodded and motioned for her to follow. Keeping up with his long strides, they made their way to the temporary marine set up that overlooked the town center.

"Status report."

The marine handed Smoker and Tashigi binoculars. "At the moment, the civilians are being forced to stay hostage. There are three confirmed bounties. Alivida the Silver Bludgeon, Buggy the Clown, and The Pirate Hunter Zoro." Smoker peered through the binoculars and zeroed in at the pirate hunter. "Isn't Roronoa a bounty hunter?"

"Reporting sir! We just received reports a week ago that he destroyed a marine base and defeated Arlong! He has a 40 Million Bounty! The highest ever in the East Blue!" Tashigi looked at Zoro. She had to admit, he didn't look like a demon like the rumors said. Also, he was only using one sword instead of three. Smoker analyzed the situation calmly. "Let the pirates kill each other first and then capture the rest. I will stake my reputation on it, none of them will leave this town."

Meanwhile, Nami looked at her barometer and frowned. The pressure was dropping rapidly which meant a huge storm was approaching. Luffy looked up at the sky, "A storm is coming, I can feel it. Nami, go back to the ship, I'm going to find Zoro and Nojiko, they're probably at the Execution Plaza waiting for me." Nami turned tail and ran to the ship, she needed to chart the course to the Grand Line especially with the change in weather. Luffy could see a mass of people at the town center, he wouldn't be able to find Zoro in that crowd unless...

Luffy shot into the air using Geppou and scanned the crowd, Immediately he saw Zoro fighting Buggy and some unknown woman. Using the Path of Lightning, Luffy zigzagged through the air before dropping to a stop on top of the execution platform. "Wow, so this is what the Pirate King saw before he died? Hey Zoro, do you need any help?" The fighting came to a pause and they all looked up at the platform.

The marines looked at Luffy and started shouting. "Major Smoker, A young man appeared out of nowhere on the execution platform!" Smoker moved the binoculars to look at the young man. He was dressed an a dark vest and long dark pants. There was nothing odd or particular about him except his Straw Hat. Smoker couldn't place the face with any bounties. "Who is he?"

The other marines flipped through the bounty list. "We don't know sir, he doesn't have a bounty!" Tashigi took a look and gasped. "That's the person I help pick out swords for earlier, He said his name was Monkey D. Luffy!" Smoker wracked his brain. "Never heard of him."

Luffy waved at Buggy. "Hey Big Nose. It's good to see you again!" Buggy shot his hand like a cannon, three daggers clasped firmly between the fingers. "DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Luffy merely chuckled before backhanding the daggers away with his Yata no Kagami. He tossed the two swords to Zoro. "Hey, I got your swords. See if you like it. One's Sandai Kietsu and the other is Yubashiri." Zoro pulled out the swords and grinned deeply, they were excellent blades.

"Oh Luffy, it's so good to see you again." Alvida said. Luffy cocked his head to the side. "Who are you? I've never seen you before." The woman smiled, "It's me Alvida! I ate the Smooth Smooth fruit and lost all my acne but my beauty remains the same!"Luffy waved his hand as if slapping away the lies. "No... That not exactly the problem." Addressing Zoro, Luffy took in the marvelous sight of the town and smiled at the spectators.

"Zoro, break a path through and take Nojiko and her things to the ship, I'll handle it here." Zoro nodded and slashed through the pirates barricading their way out. He grabbed Nojiko and her purchases and dashed away. Buggy and Alvida let him leave, their goal was Luffy. The dark haired captain grinned and spread his arms.

"There are things that humans cannot stop! A human's will, a dream, and the change of an era! As long as human long for freedom, he surely can't stop these things. **And I am the man that is going to become the greatest pirate of all time! Even greater than Gold Rodger!" **The spectators looked up in awe. "That kid came here with a big dream." Luffy stood there proudly, radiating youthfulness and vigor. Among those in the crowd, although no one voiced it, they truly believed that the kid just might be able to do it.

Buggy growled, "Nonsense, you'll die here right now for disrespecting the great Buggy-sama!" Luffy shrugged and kicked off against the platform. He zoomed through the air like a cannon towards the ground.

The people screamed, "He's going to hit the ground!" Two feet away from impact, Luffy altered his trajectory by kicking off empty air, sending him dashing straight and both Alvida and Buggy. Stunned by the sudden change in direction, they were unprepared when Luffy closed the distance in a blink of an eye.

He punched Alvida in the stomach with his left hand, the core covering the knuckle portion of the fist. Alvida could feel her resistance to the punch fading and the feeling of weightlessness. "Not again!" The force of the punch sent her flying backward, knocking over ten men before she came to a stop. At the same time, Luffy used his shigan with his right hand and stabbed Buggy near his shoulder, right under the collar bone.

It was a non-lethal attack but still painful. There was no time for Buggy to split and dodge the attack. Luffy wiped his finger off on Buggy's cape. "Alright, It was fun playing with you two. I got to go to the Grand Line now. Maybe I'll see you there!"

He gave them a parting wave and performed several cartwheel flips in midair to jump over the crowd and took off. Smoker growled, "GET BUGGY AND ALVIDA! I'll FOLLOW THAT STRAW HAT BRAT AND ZORO MYSELF! GET THE BILLOW BIKE READY!" The marines used Sea stone laced steel nets to capture Alvida and Buggy who were both down on the ground. Surrounded by countless marines, the buggy crew quickly surrendered and allowed themselves to be tied up.

Tashigi raced through the back alleys, she had to get to Roronoa Zoro! In his hands, he had two named swords! There was no way she could allow him to use the sword for evil purposes. She cut acorss the alley into the main street where the Pirate hunter was running. She unsheathed her sword. "Roronoa Zoro! I will not allow you to use those swords for evil!"

Zoro skid to a sudden stop with Nojiko. The lady's resemblance to Kuina was uncanny. Was it such a small world that he would meet a girl who looked like Kuina and is a swordsman at that? This meeting must have been arranged by the Gods. "Nojiko, head back to the ship first."

She was about to protest but she knew that it would be no good. Once Zoro set his mind on something, he wouldn't stray from his goal and right now he wanted to cross blades with the other woman. Nojiko gathered her cloths and threads and ran to the harbor. The two swordsman stood opposed to each other, letting the rain soak into their skin.

Luffy caught up to Zoro who was having a glaring contest with the lady from the weapon shop. "Tashigi! What are you doing here?" Zoro turned to his captain in surprise, he knew the woman? Tashigi glared at Luffy. "You're in the cahoots with the Pirate Hunter aren't you? You tricked me into picking those swords for you!"

Her accusations were misguided. He didn't really lie to her per say but he hadn't told her the full truth either. "I didn't trick you, I was getting two swords for my friend." She glowered, "It doesn't matter, I'm taking those swords back." Zoro unsheathed Kuina's sword from the pearl white sheath. Taishigi felt her jaw drop.

He had the Wadō Ichimonji! With that sword, he has three named swords in his possession! "The Wadō Ichimonji, I'll take it from you!" Zoro equipped all three swords, "Not a chance." Tashigi had heard rumors that the pirate hunter used three swords but seeing it in action was different than hearing stories. How was it possible to use three swords effectively?

Zoro paused and dashed forward suddenly to attack. Her eyes widened as he suddenly reappeared before her and slashed. She parried his strike but the force of his attack left her hands numb. The sheer power behind his blow was immense, if not for skills, she was pretty sure he could overpower her with strength alone.

She grit her teeth and countered by slashing rapidly with her sword. It was not all about strength, speed was important also but Zoro had the advantage in the number of swords. He blocked all of her attacks with the two swords and suddenly turned his head, katana clenched tightly between his teeth. She yelped and narrowly avoided being skewered.

His three sword style was effective and dangerous. Zoro had her sword in a pincer grip and with a jerk, her sword went flying out of her hand. She rushed forward to pick it up but stopped when a katana imbedded itself into the concrete wall, an inch away from her throat. "Why won't you kill me? Is it because I am a woman?"

Zoro sheathed his swords and ripped the sheath from her belt. "I did not fight you to kill you. You resemble my deceased friend. She was a swordsman like you but she didn't let things like gender stop her. I fought you thinking you could offer me a challenge but it was a mistake. You can't compare to her." He bent over and picked up her sword.

She rushed forward, "What are you doing?" He pushed her back, making her stumble onto the floor. "If you want this sword back, find me again and show me some improvement. Show me that gener doesn't prevent you from becoming great." Her tears mixed with the falling rain, "I'll definitely find you Rornoa Zoro and when I do, I'll take everything back!"

Zoro didn't even turn back, he walked on with four swords strapped to his waist.

Luffy skid to a stop when a marine stood in his path. "I'm Major Smoker. Where's your cohort, The Pirate Hunter?" Luffy looked behind him, Zoro had yet to catch up. "I think he's fighting Tashigi." Smoker turned his fist into smoke and launched it at Luffy. "White Blow!"

Luffy flipped over the stream of smoke, "Whoa! A logia!"

Smoker deformed both his arms into smoke, "White Out!" His second attack was more of of an Area of Effect restraining technique. Luffy waited until the last second before using Soru. He reappeared behind Smoker and clocked him over the head but Smoker turned into smoke. His head reformed and he turned to Luffy. "It's no use, your attacks will go through m-mphh!"

Luffy interrupted Smoker's taunt with a Yata no Kagami punch to the mouth. Smoker was basically sucker punched. He was surprised that he was hit when he was in his logia form. Smoker choked and stumbled backwards. He spit out a bloody tooth and held it up to examine. It was one of his front tooth.

He felt the gap with his tongue and looked at Luffy in disbelief. "You knocked out my front tooth..." Luffy bowed deeply and apologized, "I'm sorry for knocking out your tooth." Luffy stood with his hands open. "I'll let you hit me once to make it up." Smoker took his jutte out and approached Luffy.

"Don't blame me if you end up missing half of your teeth."

Luffy gave him a cheeky smile and showed him a mouth full of pearly whites. Smoker felt the vein at his temple throbbing and he grabbed his jutte with both hands and swung it like a baseball bat right at Luffy's mouth. It impacted and sounded with a resounding clang. Luffy grabbed his mouth and winced. Even with his tekkai activated, it still hurt a lot. Smoker was stronger than he looked.

"Okay, you got a free shot. So we are even now."

Smoker just looked at the dark hair youth blankly. He was pretty sure he swung with full force so why wasn't any of the brat's teeth falling out? He swung again just to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Luffy ducked and snatched his hat out of harms way when Smoker attempted a second swing. "If you want to play dirty, I'll do the same."

Luffy stood up with his fist at ready, making Smoker glance nervously at Luffy's left fist. Luffy cocked his hand back and Smoker turned his automatic defense on to full blast, ready to dodge. What he didn't expect was for Luffy to kick him in the balls. He clutched his kintamas and sank to his knees. "Y-You b-bastard!"

Luffy sighed and looked down at Smoker. "You Logia users over rely on your auto defense too much. A little bit of haki and bam! If you have time, ask around about the Color of Armament."

Zoro appeared just when Luffy finished his lecture. "What's up with him?" Luffy smiled, "Nothing much. Hey! Is that a new sword you got?" The swordsman nodded. "Yeah, I took it off the marine girl." Luffy frowned. "That's not nice, she did help find the other two swords."

Zoro shrugged, "If she wants it back, she will have to find me."

Smoker forced himself to his feet but both his hands were still clutching his family jewels. "Who are you exactly. Why are you so strong!"

Luffy crossed his arms, "My name is Monkey D. Luffy, Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, the mysterious Boss of The Pirate Hunter, Roronoa Zoro!"

"Mark my words Monkey D. Luffy, even if you got to the end of the world, I'll find you and your crew!"

Luffy just laughed and left with Zoro, leaving Smoker there smoking mad. There was a raucous laughter from the rooftop, Smoker spun around to find see who dared to laugh at him. His eyes widened and the cigars dropped from his mouth. "You... The world's looking for you. What are you doing here?"

Monkey D. Dragon looked down from the roof at the marine. "I came here on vacation. Can I not visit the place where Gold Rodger was put to death? At the same time, It was great seeing you get your balls kicked in."

Smoker sent a fist at Dragon who disappeared with a swish of his cloak. "That's what you get for getting in the way of a man's journey. Farewell foolish marine."

Smoker slammed his fist into the ground. "Damn it!" He vowed an oath, he would not stop until he had the brat in cuffs.

* * *

The storm was picking up, the wind stretching their sail taut. It was almost a hurricane level storm. The winds were blowing over 100 Mph, the rain coming down in sheets. Needless to say, visibility was limited to 20 feet ahead of them.

Luffy was looking back at Logue Town where the winds were blowing them away from. "I can feel it, this isn't a natural storm." Sanji spat out his wet cigarette, "You mean someone made this storm appear? How is that even possible? Can devil fruits even do that?" Natural or not, it was depriving him of his nicotine. It always made Sanji edgy when there were storms. It reminded him too much of the past, the storm that left him and Zeff stranded.

"I never heard about any devil fruits like that but if it is, that is one hell of a strong ability." Zoro remarked. Eveyone agreed, the ability to freely manipulate the weather was dangerous. A Storm might not seem like much but on the ocean, it was dangerous.

The violent rocking stopped and the rain disappeared as they sailed into a clear sky. Usopp cheered, "We're out of the storm now! Where's the Grand Line?" Nojiko looked off into the distance, "This is it? Where's the mountain we have to go over?"

Luffy looked around and cursed, at the same time, Nami gasped. "Take out the oars and row quickly! We have to get back to the Storm!"

"Why? The weather is excellent." Luffy came back out with two huge oars. "This is the Calm Belt!" He strapped the oars and got ready to row. He didn't elaborate any further. Zoro took an oar and got ready to row, they had rarely seen Luffy so serious outside of battle. Something was wrong.

The sea beneath them started shaking and wobbling. Nami hugged the mast and cried. "It's too late..." Their ship suddenly lurched and elevated hundreds of meters into the sky.

"!"

"!"

"!"

"!"

"!"

"!"

Their ship was perched precariously on the nose of a Giant Sea King, surrounding them were even more Neptunians that came in different colors and species but there was one common factor. Each Sea King was hundreds of times bigger than their ship.

Usopp fainted into blissful darkness, foaming from his mouth. Zoro and Sanji both grabbed an oar got got ready to row once the Sea Kings dived. but things never go accordingly to plan, the Sea King sneezed and sent the ship flying. Everyone grabbed a hold of something as they plummeted down, everyone except for Usopp who was still unconscious.

A frog like Sea King eyed usopp hungrily and opened it's mouth wide to eat Usopp but Luffy used Path of Lightning and secured Usopp back onto the ship where they started rowing as soon as they hit the water. The boat almost skipped across the water due to the ferocious rowing and within minutes, they were back in the raging storm which was about a hundred times safer.

Luffy slapped Usopp a few times before the sharpshooter was starting to come around. "GIANT SEA KINGS! ARE WE DEAD?"

Nami hugged her knees, still shaken by the close encounter. "D-Do you understand now why we have to use the entrance? That was one of the Calm Belt that sandwiches the Grand Line in the middle. It's a Sea that has no wind,meaning sails are useless, nothing but Giant Sea Kings."

Luffy squinted his eyes, "Nami, is that light the guiding light to the entrance?" Nami looked up, the lighthouse had shone the light at the Red Line, the entrance was close! "That's the entrance, we're close by, once I adjust the route, we'll be there in no time!"

Sanji pulled out a barrel of rum, "Before use the entrance, let's start the ceremony for entering the sea. He planted the heel of his foot on the top of the barrel. "I want to find the All Blue."

It was a cool ceremony and one for a safe voyage, Luffy grinned and put his foot down also. "To become the Greatest Pirate."

"I want to draw the World Map!"

"To become an invincible swordsman!"

"I want to be a brave warrior of the sea!"

"I want to see the cultures around the world and make a world wide clothing brand!"

"LET'S GO TO THE GRAND LINE!"

It was a start of a legendary adventure.

* * *

Omake:

_The Lottery Lottery Fruit : Kagu Kagu no mi Part 7_

_Smoker was a prideful man, he was proud that ever since his instatement as the Major of Logue Town Marine base, no pirate has ever escaped capture. He was special, a cut above the rest of the mindless marines that followed "Absolute Justice."_

_With his powers, it gave him leeway to defy orders and to follow his own justice. It was because the top brass was afraid of loosing someone of his capabilities. He had a Logia type devil fruit. Among the rare devil fruit abilities, Logia was one of the rarest and strongest powers available. It definitely came as a shock to him when a young fellow in a straw hat demonstrated similar abilities._

_Smoekr growled and sent a fist of smoke streaming towards the pirates. "WHITE BLOW!" He had manipulated the density of the smoke so it would be as solid as a real fist should. _

_Luffy clapped his hands, "I never thought of doing that before!" There were still more pirates left, the straw hat kid and the buggy pirates. He needed to finish this in one swoop. An Area of Effect attack would be needed._

_"WHITE OUT!" Smoke streamed from his body to form a hazy prison around the pirates. He condensed the smoke and lifted them up into the air. The captured pirates screamed in horror. "It's another gas-man! We're doomed!" Then they shoved nose plugs up their nostrils and equipped a filtering mask over their mouth._

_"Awww, they know all the tricks already!" Smoker jerked in surprise and turned to see a straw hat brat sitting on the ground. He was sure he had captured him along with the rest of the pirates! "White Blow!"_

_The fist of smoke hit the boy in the chest and continued through the body unobstructed. Smoker's jaw dropped. "Logia type also?"_

_Luffy gave him a cocky smile. "Yeah, I ate the Kagu Kagu no mi and turned into a gas man, your smoke won't work on me." Smoker smirked, We'll see about that!" He shoved four more cigars into his mouth, on top of the two he originally had and lit them._

_Luffy raised his hands. "Umm... won't you get lung cancer from smoking that much?" Smoker snarled. "I'm made of smoke you stupid boy, how can I get lung cancer?" Luffy bopped his hand on his plam, "Oh that's right, I forgot."_

_Smoker took a deep drag, the cigars reducing to ashes after he inhaled all the smoke by-producting. He flicked open a lighter and expelled all the compressed smoke into a horrific blast of ashes. _

_"Ash Smoke Blast!"_

_Upon contact with the flame, the smoke turned into a blazing fireball that engulfed Luffy. _

_Luffy walked out of the burning smoke and observed his hat. "Phew, I'm so glad my logia powers extend to my clothing as well, I'd be real mad if this hat burned." Smoker stuttered. "Dammit, I thought you were bluffing, you really do have logia type abilities!" he tuned his upper body into smoke and propelled himself at Luffy._

_He took out his sea stone tipped jutte and smacked Luffy across the face with it. Luffy went flying and crashed into the execution platform which collapsed into wooden rubble. He got up and rubbed his cheek. "Ow, I was gas but how did he hit me?"_

_Smoker grinned savagely and held up his jutte. "I got this Sea Stone tipped Jutte from a corrupt former Vice-Admiral. With it, it can bypass certain defenses that the devil fruit grant, including the ability to strike logia df users._

_Luffy spat out blood that collected from a cut on the inside of his cheek. He clenched both of his fist tightly, blue vaporous smoke drifted downward from his palm. He caught the jutte by the middle, freezing it solid and snapped it in half. Smoker looked at his broken jutte in shock. _

_"Now that the annoying weapon is taken care of, I'm going to leave. You can't beat me up anyway." Luffy turned his foot into gas and streamed away. Behind him soker was cursing Luffy out._

_"YOU DAMN STRAW HAT, IF I FIND YOU AGAIN, I'M SHOVING THIS BROKEN JUTTE UP YOUR ASS GAS OR NO GAS!"_

_Thus, Luffy's journey into the Grand Line began_

_Omake End__SBS CORNER START!_

* * *

___Hi everybody, Evel Saint-Sensei here! I have to say, Thank you all for the awesome reviews! Last chapter I recieved 41 reviews! The chapter before that was 14 reviews. You can see the major difference right? I'm sorry for the delays but this chapter was a hard one to write. _

___With Nojiko's addition to the crew, I had to plan out her role on the ship. Also, I wanted to test my hand at the different pairings and possibilities. Everything is pg-13, no raunchy sex scenes but If i do get a lot of request, I will write one and post it seperately._

___Right now, I'm still wracking my brain for Nojiko's fighting abilities. It could be devil fruit or non devil fruit related but it has to somehow relate to her role on the ship._

___And now to answer the questions!_

___Morality0duality: When is he going to regenerate the ten notched sword?_

___ES: Ahah! That's right folks, a sword can always be fixed! The sword has many abilities and properties I haven't delved into yet. You'll see more soon!_

___Luffy15 : Is Luffy's personality based on Susanoo's, as described on legend (sometimes aggressive and sometimes compassionate)?_

___ES: Wow, someone actually figured it out! Part of the result from gaining Susanoo is an alteration in spirit. The devil fruit changes aren't only physical, there's an aspect behind it that influence the eater. You'll find out about it later._

___T-Biggz: Anyways, I realized that the only reason that Zoro seemed to learn a new technique every boss fight was because he was constantly trainning. Are you going to start making sure that everyone else tries to get stronger whenever they can like Zoro does?_

___ES: Luffy won't stand by and let his nakama gets hurt. In this world, he's going to make sure they each can hold their own. *Hatches evil training plan*_

___Song of Azure Moon: Is Luffy going to have Yasakani no Magatama as one of his weapons later in the story?_

___ES: In this chapter, more about the necklace is revealed. But it is NOT a weapon. That's the only clue I can give you._

___Okay did Garp send Luffy to Rokushiki island or something?_

___Majin Hentai X:How the hell can he use tekkai kenpo not even Rob Lucci could use Tekkai Kenpo only Jyabura could so unless he taught luffy the trick it's insanity. He's also using variants when he hasn't mastered all six yet he hasn't even used kamei yet either._

___ES: Majin always brings up excellent questions. Luffy cannot use Tekkai Kenpo effectively without negative consequences. It's simply not an ability his body is suitable for but it acts like a doping technique. Increased power and strength in trade for torn muscles. In the future, when he does use this ability, He will still have the same handicap, except only slightly less painful. _

___Kamei-e is a passive ability. You don't use it on purpose. It's ingrained into your body to dodge certain attacks by promoting flexibility and maneuverability. It's the direct opposite of Tekkai. Instead of absolute tension, it's absolute softness that allows the user to move like a floating paper. To a certain degree, it even allows the user to redirect the force of the attack they receive and lessen it. Masters can even neutralize direct blows._

___Okay, SBS corner end!

* * *

_

**A/N: Thank you all those who reviewed. I'm terribly sorry for the lack of update but I haven't been sitting idle! This chapters is over 14,000 words long!**

**I'll try to get the next chapter out sooner but with finals and christmas coming up, It might be hard.**

**For those of you who want to submit a power or fighting style for Nojiko, this chapter's the one to do it! **

**If you have questions, SBS IT!**

**If you don't understand it, SBS IT!**

**For the Naruto fans who follow The Strength of Dreams, it's about 65% completed, the new chapter. It's going to be around 5-6K word.**

**Thank you for reading and keep reviewing!**

**VIKING OUT!**


	9. Chapter 9: Meeting the Princess

**One Piece: The Lottery Lottery Fruit!**

* * *

_Who in their right mind would gamble their power devil fruit power based on a lottery? Monkey D. Luffy did. It is said that crazy people have crazy luck. You have the Paramecia, the Zoan, the Logia, and the Mythical Zoan. Enter the long forgotten devil fruit. The Deity Deity Fruit : Model __**Xxxxxxx**_

* * *

Chapter 8: Meeting the Princess

Reverse Mountain was everything they thought it would be. The entrance was a narrow crack in the Red Line, covered by heavy mist. Without precise navigation, the ship would smash into the hard cliff walls. Who knew how many countless other ships met their watery grave trying to enter the Sea of Paradise? One thing was for sure though.

They were going to break through.

"Hard to starboard! We got to make sure we head straight up the entrance! If we go side way, the ship will be dashed to pieces against the rocks!" Nami shouted as the stormy winds muffled her orders. Luffy held his Straw Hat down firmly and looked up at the mountain at awe. "So this is the beginning. When we sail around the world, I'll be here again."

The ship lurched awkwardly to the side, rushing towards the edge of the mountain. "We're going to crash!" Nami screamed.

Zoro caught Luffy's hat and watched as his captain jumped off the ship. Bracing himself between the ship and the rock cliff, he pushed off hard against the side of the walls using rapid kicks. At the same time he took the impact of the ship against his core to bring it to a complete stop. The force of his kicks pushed his body against the ship, veering it back onto the correct path.

"AWESOME LUFFY!" Usopp shouted in relief. For a moment, Usopp thought that their journey would end before it even began. The Sea was not a kind place, turbulent waves and currents could capsize a ship easily. If this was only the entrance, what would the actual ocean be like? It was by far the most dangerous sea but one thing was for sure, It was an ocean filled with adventure.

They all clung to the railing as the ship shot straight up the mountain with rapid speed. There was a moment of breathless silence as they reached the top, the stray droplets of water seem to freeze in midair as they paused for a split second, before dropping down full speed to the other side. The four currents from the different seas met at one point and combined into one stream, the start of the Grand Line.

Sanji squinted into the foggy distance. "Nami, is there another mountain that we have to cross?" Nami looked at her map, "Impossible, it's geographically impossible for there to be another mountain ahead." Luffy pointed at the "Mountain." "It's a big whale isn't it."

Indeed, it was a big whale who was currently bellowing sadly at the mountain. It would have been a touching scene had the whale not been blocking their only path down to the mountain. "We're going to crash! Try to make it to the side!" Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp tugged at the rudder, tilting the ship to a small exit but under the strain, the rudder snapped. To the rest of the Straw Hat Crew, it appeared that death was certain but Luffy was not the one to back down.

He glared at the oversized whale that most likely didn't even know they were there. He harnessed his will and imposed it at the whale. _"Move!"_

It was a wild burst of **Haōshoku Haki**. It rippled from Luffy into the air, generating a rippling shockwave like effect. The Straw Hat crew, due to their close proximity to Luffy, lost hold of their consciousness. Zoro was the last to drop, through his own willpower, he knelt on his knees and looked at Luffy's back for a few seconds before his vision blurred and he fainted. Laboon felt the wave of haki and flinched backwards. His natural instints were telling him to 'Move' out of the way before a superior power.

The ship came to a stop near the bottom, free from the danger of crashing into the whale. Luffy looked at his nakama and groaned. He was still shit at controlling his **Haōshoku Haki**. There was almost no point in using it if it knocked out his friends too. He sighed, If they had such an adverse reaction to this Haki, he was afraid of what would happen if he used his _other haki._

Much to Luffy's wonder, the side of the whale opened and an old man sailed out. He had exotic hair, it looked a lot like flower petals. He looked hardly at Luffy. "Who are you young man? I felt that burst of Haki from even within Laboon. You are no ordinary man."

Luffy broke out into a wide smile. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy. So the whale's name is Laboon? That's awesome, he's a very big whale. Also you're no ordinary old man either. You took my haki like it was nothing."

The old man crossed his arms and smirked. "I'm Crocus, the keeper of the light house here. I've been on a pirate ship a few years as a doctor and I guess you can say I've seen a bit. But I do have to thank you, That burst of haki knocked out these two idiots that wanted to attack Laboon from inside." He nudged the two bounded figures at the bottom of his ship. One of them was a young lady with blue hair and a rather hypnotizing dress that drew his sight to her chest. The other was a young garish looking man with a fake looking crown on his head.

"What did they try to do?"

Crocus sighed and looked at Laboon. "They wanted to kill Laboon from the inside and use his whale meat to feed their village. I can't grudge them for trying to help their town but Laboon has been with me for fifty years and I can't just sit around and watch him die. Laboon keeps bashing his head against the Red Line because fifty years ago, a group of pirates left him here and promised to return. I searched the Seas for them but I received news that they made a desperate escape through the clam belt. I guess the sea was just too much for them."

Luffy clenched his fist, "How can they do that to him. They made a promise."

Laboon lurched forward suddenly, sending rippling waves. He bashed his head across cliff edge of the Red Line, eliciting a gasp of surprise from Luffy. Crocus cried out desperately for Laboon to stop. Luffy growled and jumped off the going Merry and zig-zagged through the air to where Laboon was bashing his head. He punched out, his Yata no Kagami landing straight onto Laboon's nose. Unfortunately it had the fine effect of flicking a finger against the forehead, irritating but not really painful.

Laboon twisted his body, spinning horizontally in the water to generate more centrifugal force, and smashed his head down at Luffy to turn him into a red smear. This was the moment when the rest of the crew woke up. Zoro slapped his limbs to rid himself of the chills racking his body. _"What happened? Luffy did something then- WTF IS LUFFY FIGHTING A GIANT WHALE?"_

Luffy at the moment was indeed trading blows with the whale. He was absorbing impacts and releasing them back and Laboon while deflecting attacks that would've surely crushed him, legendary shield or not.

"I'm pretty strong aren't I?"

Laboon perked up when he felt a change in Luffy's demeanor, he no longer seemed as dangerous, in fact, he appeared more friendly. "Our battle isn't finished yet, when I sail around the world, I will come back and settle our fight. This is a promise!" Crocus smiled and teared up, it appears that there were still fools left in the world after all. It had been a while since he had seen some one who reminded him so much of the Pirate King.

Nami, Usopp, Nojiko, and Sanji were still shaken from their fainting incident. Right before they blacked out, a deep oppressive force washed over their body. Their limbs went slack and they could not think, they could only do nothing but seek the darkness to escape the chilling power. Upon awakening, they felt nausea and bone chilling shudders. They had known Luffy was different from them but what was that mystical energy he displayed? Now that the crew was awake, Luffy took note of their chattering teeth and smiled awkwardly at them.

"Um Sorry guys, It looks like I still need some work controlling that haki. It'll wear off in ten minutes about, I just got to settle something with Laboon here first." The Haki of the Conquering King was too for him to handle at the moment. No one really told him how to train in but he knew he had the ability to impose his will upon others. It was useful for scaring off and knocking out nobodies that wasted his times but he had always fought alone and Ace had long gotten used to his random burst of emotional haki.

Ace also unlocked his **Haōshoku Haki **ands since then on, they never ran out of meat to eat. They practiced by knocking out small animals first, like birds and rabbits, then they moved onto the bigger prey like the alligators and bears. It was a useful power but very tricky to control.

Luffy laced his words with haki, sending shivers down his crew's spines as they heard his suave voice.

"Laboon. Until I come back and settle our fight, Do not bash your head into the Red Line anymore. This is an order."

He said it in a smooth voice, as if trying to persuade a child that candy was bad for their health. The gigantic whale bobbed its head eagerly, eager to please Luffy. The Lighthouse keeper looked at Luffy with respect, The dark haired youth had already tamed Laboon.

He had been with Laboon for years and it took a while before the whale actually tried listening to what he said. To an extent, Laboon still refuses to acknowledge his authority. But Luffy was different, All he had to do was speak with Laboon for five minutes and the whale was as docile and loyal as a young puppy. He looked at the two hoodlums who tried to attack Laboon, they were still out cold.

"Now what am I going to do with these two idiots?"

Luffy shrugged, "Hey. They gotta be from somewhere. They should have a log post on them." He rifled through the mans pockets but came up with nothing. Turning to the woman, he shamelessly searched her thoroughly too. Since she was wearing rather form fitting clothing, he had to search around a bit to find it. "Got it!"

Nami instantly teleportedbehind her captain and smacked him over the head. "You hentai! How can you feel up a lady who can't defend herself?" Luffy winced and held up the log post, "but we need this to get to the next island. Seeing that they came to the entrance, they probably came from one of the island on the Grand Line." Nami felt her anger gather, Luffy was making no sense at all. Why would they need that unique looking compass to sail the Grand Line? According to the map, as long as they sailed towards one of the seven island, it would be fine.

The Lighthouse keeper smirked as he watched Nami tear Luffy a new one. "Young miss, what your boyfriend just did was right. Without a log post, you will never reach the first island." Nami turned and snarled at the old man, "Who says he's my boyfriend? Also, I'll just use the compass and the map."

Luffy tugged at the hem of her shirt. "I'm not your boyfriend?"

Nami pulled him close, their nose nearly bumping. "Look into my eyes Luffy. Just be cause we 'you know what happened' doesn't mean we're in a relationship! Now if you let the other guys find out, I'm going to make sure you never have the chance to do 'it' again!"

Luffy backed off and looked down at his kintamas, he shuddered. Girls are scary.

The two hoodlums were rousing. Vivi shook her head and blinked blearily. It felt like someone punched her brain and then injected liquid coolant into her blood stream. "What happened? We were about to take down that whale and then-" The glaring sunlight stopped when a figure stood in front of her, his tall frame blocking out the light. It cast a shadow on his body making her squint to see his facial features. Her partner busted out of his ropes and stood up, brandishing his metal bat. "Hey chump, why are you looking at my partner like that? Let me show you the power of -"

Luffy dropped the ranting fool with a casual kick to the nuts. All the guys winced, it appeared that Luffy favored that particular move when it came to dealing with talkative idiots. Zoro made a mental note to speak with Luffy about that move, it was an insult against all men and an unrefined move. Luffy grinned at them, "So I have your Log Post. You guys going to follow me or what?"

Vivi snarled, "We'll just take it back from you then!" She rushed forward to tackle the young man into the ground and wrest the log post out of his hands but he merely side-stepped her attempt. She let out a sudden scream when she scrapped her hands after missing her target. Out of nowhere, Sanji gave Luffy a plowing kick to the head which sent the captain flying into the cliff wall. "You don't hurt ladies you crude man!" He turned to Vivi with hearts in his eyes and offered her his arm. "Oh my fair lady, are you alright? Ignore my unrefined captain over there."

The said captain pulled himself free from the mini-indentation, brushing dirt and small pebbles off his clothes. "Sanji! What the hell man? You got dirt all over Nojiko's new suit!" Luffy stood up and pointed his finger accusingly at his cook. "You would hit your own captain over a girl! That's it Sanji, we got pork!" Usopp snickered and hollered back at Luffy. "It's we got 'beef' Luffy!"

"Oh." Luffy turned to Sanji. "I got beef with you!"

Vivi marveled at how childish Luffy was, instead of getting pissed, he took everything in stride. The kick to the head didn't even faze him!

"Just who are you?"

Luffy stopped yelling at Sanji and gave her a toothy grin, "Name's Monkey D. Luffy! Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates!" he proudly shouted. Vivi had an update list of bounties and she had never heard of a Luffy.

"Sorry, I haven't heard of your name before." Luffy's jaw dropped in shock and he turned to the green haired Swordsman in anger. "Zoro, it's all your fault! Now nobody even knows who I am, If I don't have a cool bounty, How am I suppose to be Pirate King?" Vivi's eyes snapped to the yawning youth leaning calmly against the mast of the ship. He had four swords, one of them a spare, and a black bandana tied around his upper arm. This guy was the Santoryu user, Pirate hunter Zoro! Unable to hide her reaction, she let out a startled gasp and scuttled backwards in an attempt to put some distance between them.

The swordsman regarded her coolly with apathetic eyes, it look like he wanted nothing more to do but then to sleep but there was a hint of awareness carefully concealed. She could tell he had his guard up against unknown enemies. Vivi averted her eyes as Zoro walked up to her. "What did you say your name was again?" He asked her in a flat voice but there was steel behind the innocuous question.

She stuttered a bit, did he suspect her true identity? Did she give anything away that she was a daughter of royalty? "M-My name is Ms. Wednesday." He looked to the side where her partner was still rolling around on the ground, clutching his nuts. honestly, it had been more than five minutes already. Vivi took the chance to distract him, "And his name is Mr. 9."

Zoro narrowed his eyes just a fraction of an inch. He had heard of those code names before. An organization comprised of only bounty hunters had once tried to recruit him. He counter-offered them with the requirement to be boss.

The previous Mr Nine tried to run him through with a sword and he took it as a challenge. A challenge that he won with blood. It seems that they assigned a new Mr. Nine and Baroque Works was on the move again. He would have to keep an eye on them. Nojiko pushed Zoro to the side with a bump of her hips. Ignoring Zoro's indignant look, she giggled and offered her hand to the other blue haired girl.

"Ignore the big teddy bear over here. he's always so high strung. My name is Nojiko, it's great to meet someone with the same hair color as me, although a different shade."

Vivi took her hand and smiled. "It was true, she had rarely seen people with blue hair, while her's was more of an aquamarine blue, Nojiko had a violet blue shade. Before they could continue, they were interrupted by the scene of Luffy and the blond cook trading kicks.

"Damn it you glutton, I made that Elephant Trunk Tuna for Nami!"

Luffy did a cartwheel flip backwards to escape a roundhouse kick. "Sanji! You're taking this too seriously! It taste so good so I just ate a bit!"

The cook growled, "A bit? YOU EVEN ATE THE FISH BONES!"

Vivi deadpanned. "Um... Is it safe traveling with these people?" she asked.

Nojiko merely laughed. "They might be a bit ... out of the loop but they are the type you can trust with your life."

The secret princess smiled sadly, it would be nice if she had people like that to rely on.

* * *

"What the hell is wrong with this Sea?" Nami moaned in despair as the smooth current somehow managed to reverse the ship 180 degrees backward. "I only took my eyes off the log post for a few minutes and we nearly sailed back to the lighthouse." Vivi smirked, "That's how it is with this sea. You never know what to expect." The orange hair navigator tousled her hair in frustration, she had never felt so lost before on the sea. Everything she knew about navigation was unfounded by the Grand Line.

The weather look clear, the wind gentle on the sails. Luffy snapped his head up toward the approaching clouds, a whispering gut sensation told him a storm was coming, a cold one. On his way down to the storage captain, he smacked Zoro over the head and told him to wake up. He gathered everyone and dropped a load of shovels and two huge paddles onto the deck.

"What's with all the equipment, are we going to dig?" Usopp said as he picked up a shovel and took an experimental swing to test the weight. Luffy wordlessly handed the two oars to Sanji and Zoro. "No, there is a big storm coming, a cold one."

Nami had her hands on her hips as she glanced disbelievingly at her captain. "The weather is great, there's no sign of a storm, especially a blizzard. I think you're wrong in this regard." Luffy frowned. "No way, when it comes to storms, I can feel one a mile away. And I can feel it, in two minutes, get ready to start shoveling snow." Before Nami could retort, a frigid gale swept by, chilling the crew to their bones. Luffy snorted, "I hate to tell you so." Nami growled and stalked back into the cabin to grab a coat.

Nojiko quirked her lip downward to a slight frown. Nami was doing it again; she always had a bad habit of distancing herself from those she cared for, even to the extent where she lashed out at them. She had done it as a child, taking Arlong's mark, now she was doing the same with Luffy, except this time, she was challenging his authority. For once, she was glad that Luffy was so dense when it came to dealing with girls. Going along with the rest of the crew, she grabbed a shovel and started scrapping the thin layer of snow that gathered on the deck. Luffy was right when he said it was a cold storm.

"Luffy, what did you say your devil fruit power was again?" Nami had exited her room, nose buried into a dusty tome that had definitely seen better days. Luffy was practicing his spinning kicks, the wind generated from his kick dragged the snow from the deck. He did a back flip in midair while still in motion from the twisting hurricane kick and landed next to Nami. "It was the Lottery Lottery fruit, I don't really know what model I got. It's the Yata no Kagami shield, The Ten Notch Sword and the Necklace. I thought you knew this already." The irritated navigator snaked her hand behind his neck and pulled him down to her level so he could see the book. "Look, your items are right here! The Three Regalia of Susanoo!"

Luffy squinted his eyes at the faded passage.

_"Speculated to be the weapons of the storm god, The Three Regalia consist of a Ten Notch Sword, capable of bringing down the wrath of heaven. The Yata no Kagami, a mirror that can reflect anything. The Necklace of Magatama which was worn by the Storm Deity. There had been stories, passed down through the generations. The god Susanoo could rain lightning down from the sky, cursed lightning that darkened the day. The Mirror is boasted to be unbreakable and blessed by the Sea. The Magatama is said to be capable of mystical abilities. Over the years, people have found the relics of Susanoo but had never been able to wield it. Mentions of the Regalia had popped up sporadically throughout history but many of them untrue. The last known mention of a Regalia was when the Ten Notch Sword sank into the depths of the Sea after the ship it was on got sucked into a whirlpool."_

Luffy rubbed his belly while he thought. It made sense now as to why the sword had been in the crushing depths. Every time he summoned the sword, he had to open the portal to the bottom of the ocean to get the sword. Granted he didn't have to re-seal the sword but it was a great spot to leave it and not have to worry about losing it.

"Well, what do you know? I'm really kick-ass after all."

Namiclosed the book with a snap, her pretty face marred by annoyance. "Well, I don't care if your items are rumored to be the God of the Sea, you shovel that snow now!" She went back in to her room mumbling about unappreciative bastards.

Luffy shoveled the snow with a smile on his face.

The God of the Sea had a nice ring to it.

* * *

"I see it! It's a huge Cactus!" Usopp alerted the rest of the crew after he spotted the island via his telescope. The island was easy to spot, especially due to the odd circular hills that made it look like an immense cactus."

Mrs. Wednesday smirked, "That's our stop, Whiskey Peak. Thanks for the ride." Her Partner Mr. 9 flipped them the two finger salute, "Adios Amigo!" They both jumped off the ship with a spin and started swimming to shore.

There was an awkward silence. Luffy turned to Zoro, "Why didn't they stay on the ship until we got to shore, We're like five minutes away."

Zoro shrugged, "Don't ask me, That Mr. 9 looked kind of crazy."

Nami gripped her staff, "Keep on your guard everybody. This is the first island of the Grand Line, we don't know what to expect!"

When the ship sailed closer to the dock, they saw an unexpected spectacle. The citizens from the town had gathered to shout and cheer to welcome their arrival. Usopp couldn't help grinning, "Wow what is this? It looks like they are welcoming us here but they should know we are pirates from our flag."

The townsman gathered gathered and cheered, "Welcome brave adventurers, welcome to the town of celebration, Whiskey Peak!"

Usopp pumped his arm up in the air, "Hell yeah, getting here was crazy!"

Luffy jumped from the ship and landed on the harbor. he broke into a wide grin, "Does this mean there is going to be a feast?" The man with the curly white hair and red nose smiled, "Mah-Maah-Maaaah! Of course there will be a feast for you brave adventurers, I am the mayor of this town, Igarappoi. Let us celebrate your journey here!"

"Woohoo!" Luffy jumped up and down and waved his hands at his crew. "Come on over, they are going to feed us!"

Nami palmed her face and sighed, Luffy was too naive sometimes.

* * *

The celebration was intense. Barrels of grog were rolled out, tempting Zoro to enter a drinking contest. When the prize of a hundred thousand berries upped the ante, Nami joined in. It was a wild night, full of festivity and music. Sanji felt right at home when he flirted with twenty girls at once. Even Usopp enjoyed himself, telling ridiculous stories and watching as his audience leaned in as to not miss a single word.

Nojiko tagged along Luffy, watching her captain scarf down plates of food. The chef collapsed from the exhausting work while Luffy roared for more. She giggled as Luffy ate more and more, she had never seen her captain in action before, granted she knew he was strong but never had she expected him to be so goofy. The second chef fainted and Luffy sat back with a content sigh. "Thank you so much guys but I'm full now!" That was filling but he didn't want to over do it, he still needed some room for the alcohol.

"Luffy-san"

Luffy turned to Nojiko. "Oh hey Nojiko-chan! You want some food too?" He picked up a half eaten drumstick and poked it. "I think this is still good."

She laughed and shook her head. "Thank you but I'm fine. I actually want to ask you for a favor."

Lufffy shrugged and popped the drumstick into his mouth, pulling out the bone which was picked clean of meat. "Sure, just ask me and I will help."

"I want to be strong. Please train me Luffy-san! I saw how strong you are; If you train me, I can protect myself and I won't be so useless." Luffy was silent. For a moment, Nojiko wonder if asking Luffy was such a good idea, Luffy's reaction was too quiet for her liking. She stood hastily, "I'm sorry Luffy, It was stupid of me to ask I wi-"

A hand snapped around her wrist, preventing her from leaving. "Do you trust me?"

His voice was deadly serious, this was Luffy the Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates. Not the goofy young man whom she was accustomed to. Did she really trust him? She hadn't known him for a long time, a few weeks at best. There were things about him that she didn't know about, all she knew was that he was strong and her sister trusted him. Yet he risked his life to kill Arlong when he could have simply walked away. She searched for the answer with her heart instead of thinking it through.

"Yes. I trust you with my life."

He released his hand and grinned, "Then get ready because my training is hard. Come on, let's get some drinks." He put his arm around her shoulder and steered her to where Zoro and Nami sat. Ignoring her protest, Luffy set a tankard of alcohol in front of her, his arm still wrapped around her shoulder. "Come one Nojiko-chan, If you're going to be a pirate, you gotta know how to drink and have fun!"

"Nojiko-**chan**?" Zoro and Nami both growled at the same time.

Luffy popped the top of a barrel of grog and slammed it on top of the table. "Zoro! Nami! Let's see who can hold their alcohol the best!"

Under normal circumstances, Zoro would limit his drinking to a moderate level so he could be aware of his surrounding. But seeing Luffy with his arm wrapped around Nojiko had left him with a desire to win over Luffy in a drinking contest.

"You're on Luffy."

Nami felt her anger rise as her jealousy spike a the thought of Luffy making a move on her sister. "I'm going to drink until you puke."

Luffy's eye lit up with amusement, "You're both going down."

Three barrels later, both Nami and Zoro were too drunk to continue. They had already consumed quite an amount of alcohol prior to Luffy's challenge and now they were paying the price. Luffy felt a bit dizzy as well and he slumped onto Nojiko's shoulder, burying his head through her fragrant hair. "Mmmnzz, You smell nice."

Nojiko felt her cheeks flush red and it wasn't from the alcohol. "Luffy-san, You're drunk. Rest on the couch."

Luffy wrapped his arms tighter around her, "Noo, you smell and feel good. I don't wanna let go." Nojiko sighed, she let it slide seeing that he wasn't doing anything inappropriate. After saving her town, the least she could do for him was lend him a shoulder.

Soon she felt her eyes droop and she leaned her head against his, slowly drifting off to sleep. Withing minutes, she joined the rest of the crew in their slumber.

Some time later, the door to the room creaked open, the moon light shadowing the intruder. The snores continued to fill the air as the bounty hunter approached silently. The bounty hunter unsheathed his dagger with trepidation. It appeared that the feared Pirate Hunter was knocked out cold from the alcohol.

"What are you doing?" A cold and stern voice whispered.

The bounty hunter jumped back. His eyes registered the dark haired young man with the straw hat, he felt his tension fading. It was only the straw hat. For a moment, he thought the Pirate Hunter had awaken.

"Look, I'm sorry about this but your friend has to die. Since you don't have a bounty, I can let you and your friends go but the 40 million Berri bounty will be mine!"

The bounty hunter stabbed his dagger down to end Zoro's life but before he could reach his target, he received a devastating kick to the ribs. Luffy's kick sent the man flying through the air and through the concrete wall. It was instant death.

Nojiko woke up with a start, it sounded like a wall had fallen down. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she took in the image of a crumbling wall. "Luffy, what happened?"

His eyes narrowed, the haze of alcohol gone from his mind. "I think we stumbled into a nest of bounty hunters. It makes sense now, who in their right mind would throw celebrations to a bunch of pirates they never met? They prey on the pirates who are tired from the treacherous start of the Grand Line and once they ply them with alcohol, the rest is easy picking. I'm going to get rid of them."

"Um, you won't kill them would you?"

He looked at her, "Unless they try to kill you guys, I'll go easy on them"

Luffy stepped out of the demolished wall where the rest of the bounty hunters had gathered. They checked the man for a pulse but Luffy already knew the man was dead.

"Takato is dead! The Pirate hunter killed him!"

Luffy folded his arms together, "No, I killed him."

The bounty hunters turned their rifles to him angrily, "Die you worthless no-name!" The sound of multiple gunfire echoed throughout the town, not stopping until they each ran out of ammunition. Luffy activated his tekkai before they fired, standing there to let them vent their rage and frustration.

The bounty hunters peered through the smoke from the gunpowder, "Shucks, we turned that guy into a honeycomb, shouldn't have wasted all that ammunition."

"Yeah. you did waste them. Bullets don't work on me."

The crowd of bounty hunters gaped at the young man in the straw hat. The top of his suit was in tatters from all the bullets but there was unmistakable tanned flesh beneath. The bullets had no effect. "A D-Devil Fruit Power?"

Luffy glared at them, leaking his haki to accentuate his words. "I'm going to let you guys off but if you try to kill my nakama, you will end up like Takato. I will kill you, count on it."

One of the bounty hunters quivered with rage. "You faggot! Why is a nobody like you getting in out way?" He unsheathed his sword and swung it at Luffy's neck, trying to end the fight as quickly as possible.

The blade contacted the junction of the throat and stopped cold in it's track. The man's eye bulged out, Impossible, how are you doing this!"

Luffy took the blade between his thumb and forefinger, easily snapping it. "I'm not a nobody, I am Monkey D. Luffy, Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates. Remember it." His knee flashed upward into the man stomach, sending the bounty hunter flying through the air. The unfortunate fellow landed in a tumbling roll, skidding over ten meters before he stopped, puking up blood.

"Ahh, that was a nasty one, three months of recovery due to internal damage."

"Get him!" The abandoned their blades and took out hammers, mallets, and one of them even rolled out a cannon. Luffy whistled, "Trying to kill me with blunt force? Go for it."

The fuse crackled and sparked, igniting the cannon. A iron ball of destruction whistled through the air, straight towards Luffy. With a backhand, he deflected it to the left where it promptly exploded. That was only the opening shot, the rest of the bounty hunters descended on him with their mallets, trying to smash his brains in.

Luffy exploded into action, he flipped around in a midair, fist, knees, legs, elbows all lashing out non stop. He tore though the crowd like a ball of destruction, before long, all of the bounty hunters were laid out on the floor, groaning in pain. Some of them tried to run but they barely made it across town before he beat them all down. Even Miss Monday was taken down with a rather viscous flying knee kick to the cranium.

Vivi and Igaram stood in the back watching the destruction that Monkey D. Luffy unleashed. Cold sweat broke out after watching the display of violence and skills the straw hat youth demonstrated. As the Captain of the Royal Army, Igaram had to admit even his strongest fighters might be defeated by Luffy. Who knew there would be a rookie of such capabilities traveling through the beginning of the Grand Line?

Being the most brain dead of the three, Mr. 9 stepped forward brandishing his iron bat. Swirling the bats cockily in his hands, he approached Luffy. "You know, that was just some fancy display. What style was that? I'm going to remember it when I trash it to the ground."

Luffy cracked his fist with a viscous grin, "It is Muay Thai, the Art of the Eight Limbs, Luffy version. Remember it because I'm going to trash you to the ground using it." Mr. 9 dashed forward with his bat cocked back to smash Luffy's face in. Luffy bent his waist backward ninety degrees to duck under the wild swing. He kicked his leg up, missing the other man's chin by inches before bringing it down in a viscous axe kick to the shoulder. There was a sharp crack as the collarbone gave way but to Luffy's surprise, Mr. 9 pushed past the pain and used his other bat to nail Luffy across the left cheek.

He took the attack off-guard, he had expected the man to faint after receiving a broken collarbone. Most people would have already fainted from the sudden pain. Luffy touched his cheek tenderly and winced, he hadn't managed to get tekkai up in time. Mr.9 shuddered to hold himself up, clearly favoring one side as his other arm hung down limply.

Luffy walked toward the man, "Why are you still fighting. Most people would give up from the pain of a broken collar bone." Mr.9 grinned weakly, "I can't lose, the unluckies are watching; if they report to the boss, I might get demoted. I can't risk that!"

Now Luffy was perplexed; instead of a town, they were actually a part of a bounty hunter organization? He had not heard of such a vast bounty hunter organization, if such an organization existed, the Marines would have surely heard of it and so would he. Something felt wrong about all the secrecy and the one heading the organization had to be someone powerful but who?

Mr. 9 stiffened, "The unluckies are here watching, I can't lose!"

There was nothing out of the ordinary except for an vulture and an otter wearing sunglasses. Sunglasses at night? They must be the unluckies. A sudden battle cry derailed him from his thoughts. He grabbed a hold of the wrist holding the bat and pulled. He spun around quickly, using Mr. 9's momentum and his own to slam his elbow into the back of the unprotected neck.

Mr. 9 sank to the ground like a rock.

Glaring in the direction of the two animals, he let lose a sharp burst of haki. They jerked back as if they had been stricken a physical blow and fainted backwards onto the floor. Igaram and Vivi knelt on the ground with shaky limbs and lost their lunch from the residue backlash.

"W-What the hell w-was that?"

Luffy pouted, "Damn it, better but still not good enough. Least you guys didn't faint too."

Vivi and Igaram were ready to run the hell out of Whiskey Peak and sail back to Arabasta. Mission be damned. They knew that if Luffy was incline to fight them, they would not stand a lick of chance for victory. They both silently prayed to whatever higher power there was for a distraction. They must have collected enough good karma because at that very same moment, two voices snidely introduced themselves.

"Well, look what we have here. Boss isn't going to be happy to find out one of his outpost has been wiped out by one brat." A tall, dark skinned and black-haired man stepped out of the shadow. The moonlight illuminated the clearing enough for Luffy to see his brown trench coat with a pink cravat. and a pair of sunglasses. Luffy sighed, what was it with this organization and sunglasses?

The new arrival wasn't alone. A woman with short blonde hair and bright green eyes stepped out of the shadows with a giggle. She was wearing a yellow and orange hat, as well as a yellow dress with a lemon-like pattern, lemon earrings, and white high-heeled shoes. Luffy thought it was an interesting fashion style, but still too much yellow for his taste . A bright green umbrella with blue stripes rested on her shoulder, prompting Luffy to sigh. Were all the people in the Grand Line a bit crazy? There was a dude wearing Sunglasses at night, the lady was using a parasol when it wasn't raining or when the sun was glaring hot.

Luffy was saved from asking for their names when the man with the curly hair stuttered in fear. "Mr. 5, Miss Valentine. Did the boss send you here to help us?"

"Kyaaaha, who are you kidding? Do you think the boss sent us to this backwater island just to back you guys up?"

A twinge of fear struck Igaram's heart, it couldn't be possible. Had their cover been compromised? "W-What are your talking about Miss Valentine?" Igaram cursed inwardly, what had alerted them? He made sure to craft their cover carefully.

"You know exactly what this is about. Our company motto is 'Everything must be a secret. No one should know about each other's past or even identity.' But we discovered that there were people infiltrate Baroque work to investigate the boss." The man sad coldly.

Igaram fiddled with his necktie, "What do you mean? We worked our way up to the number agents with hard work, this is a coup isn't it!"

Mr.5 unfolded his arms and reached into the inner pocket of his coat. "Really now, Igaram, Captain of the Royal Arabasta Guard. Tell me, is Miss Wednesday not Vivi Nefertari, Princess of the Arabasta Kingdom?" He showed them a photograph of the princess who looked remarkably like Miss Wednesday. The cat was out of the bag.

"I will not let you harm the Princess in the name of the leader of the Royal Army of Arabasta!" He pulled down the strings of his necktie, circular min-canons popped out of his curly hair. "Die!" Multiple shots blasted the clearing where Mr. 5 stood, turning the ground into a blazing inferno. Luffy was impressed, that was quite a lot of firepower the old man was packing.

"Useless. This is an explosion. Booger Bomb!" Mr. 5 had walked out the raging inferno without a burn or even soot on his clothes. He flicked his finger, sending a small projectile zooming through the air. Luffy narrowed his eyes, was that a booger the man had just flicked?"

A sweltering heat wave washed over Luffy as the booger impacted Igaram and exploded with the force of five cannonballs. _"HOLY SHIT! THAT IS SOME DANGEROUS BOOGER! Is the dude still alive?" _he thought. The princess was in tears at the sight of the burning figure on the ground. Luffy made a split-second decision and decided to save Igaram. There was something about Baroque Work that just set alarm bells ringing in his head. He reappeared next to Igaram's burning body and swiped his finger across the core quickly, opening the portal.

Gallons of water escaped from what appeared to be the back of his hand. The water raged forth from the core and doused the flames. Once he was satisfied the fire was out, he reached out with his mind and imagined the glass core as a door. Using his mental focus and a bit of haki, he yanked it close in his mind and the water stopped flowing soon after. He sighed in relief, opening the portal was easy but closing it was hard, the water gushing out made it really hard to close. Reaching in and and retrieving his sword was easy but opening the portal fully to release the water was a whole other difficulty level. The water pressure pushing down and through the portal interfered with the closing making it a real struggle for him control the core.

"Watch out above you!"

Luffy heard Vivi's warning just in time to throw himself to the side, he hadn't even bothered to check what the threat was. The ground next to him splintered and cracked from the force of Miss Valentine's aerial attack. Good Lord, how much did that girl weigh?

"Kyahaha, so you dodged that did you?

Luffy dashed forward and swiped empty air when Miss Valentine jumped up and away from his attack. He tensed his leg to attack her when she landed but she continued her ascent, floating up and up and up...

"What the hell? A devil fruit power?"

Miss Valentine reveled at Luffy's look of surprise. "That's right, I ate the Kilo-Kilo fruit and it allows me to change my body's density from one kilogram to ten thousand kilogram!" Luffy looked at her blankly, I can see up your skirt you know."

"PERVERT!"

"Don't get distracted, she's not the only one with with devil fruit powers."

Luffy cursed, the distraction made him take his guard off Mr. 5 who was rapidly approaching him with his arms extended out in a clothesline. Luffy steeled his body for impact. He was confident he could take any attack Mr. 5 threw at him.

**"Lariat!"**

The arm hooked his neck at the junction of the elbow and the arm glowed brightly. Luffy felt his feet clear the ground from the force of the clothesline and barely closed his eyes in time as the arm exploded with viscous abandon. At close range, the shockwave ruptured his eardrums and the small consecutive explosions caused concussive damage. Luffy could tell that his balance was shot to hell judging by the way the world spun around him even as he lied flat on the ground.

He had been taken unaware and he was disoriented to even put up another tekkai at his current condition. Gambling on his life, he opened the portal to the core. The water gushed out at a ferocious rate, sprouting a fountain over his smoldering body. The soothing ocean water filled his ears, stealing away the pain from the ruptured eardrums. The dizziness was still apparent but he could feel the pain ebbing away with the water. From his position on the ground, he could see that Sanji had awaken and joined. Nojiko probably tried her best to wake up one of them.

Focusing with his **Kenbunshoku Haki**, Luffy could also sense Usopp's location on one of the rooftops. The sharpshooter scaled the building opposite of Mr. 5 and was ready to shoot his explosive pellets. Mr. 5 didn't take notice when Usopp tried lining his trusty slingshot to the back of his head. His aim held true and they successfully slammed into Mr. 5's head in a flash of fire and smoke.

"That was a crappy explosion. You used cheap gunpowder didn't you? It's no use you fools. I ate the bomu-bomu no mi, I am an explosive man! I can make any part of my body explode." Mr. 5 gloated as he threw back his head and laughed cockily. This irked Sanji a bit and he dashed forward to perform a sweeping kick which was blocked by Mr. 5's forearm. The baroque agent glared at him. "I told you didn't I? I can make all parts of my body explosive. Behold!"

The arm glowed brightly for a split second, giving Sanji a brief moment to jump back before the explosion went off. The backlash of the explosion still caught Sanji which blasted him backward into one of the buildings.

"Sanji!"

A horrific crash and his Color of Observation let him know that Usopp suffered a similar fate when Miss Valentine dropped like a meteorite on Usopp, sending him through the roof and down into the building.

"Usopp!"

Luffy felt his anger explode from within, what was he doing sitting here while his nakama got hurt trying to protect him! He wasn't that weak!

The water gushing out of the core reacted to his anger. There was a tickling sensation in the back of his mind, a connection to the ocean water that he knew was there but was not yet accessible. There was enough water released to fill a house but was spread out through the floor of the twon, lapping at Mr. 5's ankles. His haki pulsed outward in an invisible wave through the water. The growing edges of water stopped in their tracks. Another pulse filled the water, sapping Luffy of more energy but he didn't care. Luffy knew that Haki could be imbued into weapons and items but he had never tinkered with the idea of putting haki into the ocean water.

To an extent, he knew the ocean water was his to control, now he had to exert his will over it. The more **Busōshoku Haki **he channeled into the water, the more the water receded. The water grew denser and more compact as the energy held the water molecules together with great tenacity. Soon the water drained back to form a dark azure blue circle around Luffy. It sat obediently around him as if waiting for a command, quivering in eagerness to please.

Putting in more haki didn't change a single thing. Maybe had had to use a different sort of Haki? Instead of using the Color or Armament, he decided to infuse the water with the Color of Observation. Much to his delight, the water started reacting to his thoughts and commands. The more **Kenbunshoku Haki **he put into the water, the easier it was to control. Giving it a command, he sat back and held his breath, praying that it would work.

Mr. 5 watched in curiosity as the gushing water receded like a tide, surrounding the downed young man he had lariated. It was only when the water started moving when he knew something was wrong. Tendrils of water snaked up the boys arm and legs like living creatures and he knew there was no devil fruit ability capable of manipulating water directly. At least not to the extent which he was seeing right now.

"What the hell is that?" Miss Valentine said as she floated in the air to view the spectacle from above.

"I don't know but I'm getting a really bad feeling from this." Mr. 5 said. He readied two booger bullets, he was taking no chances here. "Double Booger bullet!" There was a roar and a back draft of wind as the explosion sucked in the oxygen to fuel the massive explosion. Mr.5 smirked, "Nothing could have survived that."

Normally that would be true for most ordinary people but Luffy was anyone but ordinary. From ground zero, a circular orb of deep azure water glided out of the ground and in the center, Luffy floated freely in the water. The ocean water took oxygen from the surrounding and filtered it until it incorporated itself into the highly concentrated water. The water had entered his lung, directly supplying oxygen via the water making breathing unnecessary.

Luffy felt wonderful in the sphere of ocean water. He was aware of each individual drop of water as his haki reigned control over it, the natural energy of the ocean healing his body. He felt like he could do anything with it, including this. Flicking his hand outward, a tendril of water blasted forth from the orb. The front of the tendril increased in mass as he released control of the density, allowing it to regain it's normal volume.

A roaring jet of pressurized water slammed into the floating Miss Valentine with bone crushing force. Having changed her body weight to one kilogram, the water jetted her high into the air before it dispersed, her unconscious body floating down limply.

Mr. 5 launched two more bullets at Luffy but the superheated explosion didn't even warm the concentrated water. "M-Monster!"

The sphere of water broke apart into numerous tendrils that slithered along the ground. A few tendrils stayed behind to support Luffy's body like a brace, holding him upright while the rest chased after Mr. 5 who turned tail and started running. Luffy jerked his hand up with a flare of haki and four or five tendrils jumped up into the air with a curved arc. They lost their compact form and turned back into their normal mass of water which came down as pillars of water.

They impacted the ground like a crashing wave of the tide, swamping the explosive devil fruit user. The tendrils caught up to the main water mass and they twisted the water until Mr. 5 became the eye of the swirling whirlpool which imploded on itself to encase him in a sphere of pure ocean water.

True to the devil fruit curse, Mr. 5's body slackened as he was fully submerged in water, his energy and power siphoned from his body to the surrounding water. Luffy unsealed his sword and approached Mr. 5. There was a shrill whining in his mind as his sword begged him to plant it through the delicious source of energy and Luffy was only too glad to comply.

* * *

Sanji felt the debri being removed off his body. With the pressure gone, he took in a greedy breathe of air and coughed harshly. A mop of dark hair greeted him, his captain's dark eyes filled with concern.

"D-Did we get that bastard?"

Luffy pulled him to his feet and steadied him. "Yeah, I pulled some crazy shit but it's done. He won't be able to hurt us again." Luffy had said the last part with such dryness, Sanji was sure the Mr. 5 guy was deader than a doornail. Sanji tested his legs and found them in working order, his back was sore from the collision but his overall condition was pretty much fine.

"What about Usopp?"

Luffy sighed and Sanji could hear the burden that Luffy carried as the Captain of the crew. "Nothing serious is it?"

"He broke a leg when Miss Wednesday dropped on him like a ten thousand kilogram paperweight. I set his leg with a splint but I think we need to get him to a doctor just to be safe." Luffypinched the bridge of his nose to stave off a headache, "That's it, whether you guys like it or not, I'm going to have to teach you Tekkai or Kami-e."

Sanji shrugged, he was more interested in the leg techniques such as Soru or Rankyaku but there was no harm in learning Tekkai/Kami-e. It's better to know it and not need it, than to need it but not know it.

"C'mon, let's get back to the others."

Luffy and Sanji made their way back to the rest of the crew, where Vivi and Igaram had been gathered. It was a quiet walk back.

* * *

"One Hundred Million Berries."

Igaram's jaw dropped after hearing the immense sum. He used his pinky finger to clear out his ears. Did he hear wrong?

"Y-You mean One Million Berries?"

Nami slammed her fist down on the table, rattling the glass mugs. "I said One Hundred Million Berries! You're asking us to escort your princess back to her country safely, is your Princess' life only worth so little? It's not too much to ask for from the King. Look at what happened already! You had a walking and talking bomb after you that almost killed our Captain. Then a girl who could change her body weight to a number higher than you can bench press drops herself on our sharpshooter, breaking his leg. You have to take into account the medical fees, time involved, provisions, and so many more factors. Honestly, 100 million is not a lot to ask for."

Igaram slumped in his seat, the orange hair navigator was right. Without the protection of the Straw Hats, the would already have been turned into cinder by Mr. 5. "I'm sorry but our country cannot afford to pay that price at the moment. I'm not sure if you heard but our Kingdom is at the breaking point for a civil war."

This prompted Vivi to chime in, "It's all because of Crocodile, he wants to create a dream country of his own and what better way to do it than to take over an existing one? He's also the boss of Baroque Works."

Luffy held his hands up, showing them seven digits. "Hold on for a moment Vivi-chan. You mean Crococile, one of the Seven Warlord of the Sea?"

Vivi bit her lip anxiously, "Yes, he's the government sanctioned pirate and he made our Kingdom his home base. Even if we disclose the fact that he is running a bounty hunter network, there is nothing illegal about it. But I know he's using the organization for a more sinister purpose!"

There was two extremely differing reactions.

"That's crazy! Hell no!"

"That's Awesome. Let's go!"

Luffy and Nami whipped their head around, electricity shooting from their eyes in a battle of wills. Everyone could feel the hair on the back of their neck stand up and it wasn't due to the metaphorical energy.

There was steel in her voice when Nami spoke, "Luffy, Tell me why would any sane person go against one of the Shichibukai right when they enter the Grand Line? It's a recipe for disaster."

Luffy rolled his shoulder to work out the kinks, "First of all, I never said I was sane."

Usopp spoke up in the back, "He got that right."

Luffy shot him a dirty look, "Second of all, It's one of the Shichibukai that we are talking about here. All I need to do is send that Crocodile flying and I will get a super bounty! Everyone will know my name overnight! Also, I can help Vivi-chan out too. That's like eating two drumsticks in one bite!"

Nami palmed her face with a sigh. Her first reaction was to punch Luffy in the face but after going through what he said, it actually made sense much to her horror. She was starting to get the Luffy Insanity Syndrome, when normally crazy ideas start making sense.

"Alright but I still want my 100 Million Berries!"

Zoro had been oddly silent throughout the entire conversation. He was kicking himself for drinking himself to a stupor just because of a petty jealousy. He ruthlessly crushed any faint feelings he had towards Nojiko. He could not afford to be distracted, he needed to become the world's greatest swordsman and he had a crew to protect.

"I don't think we should go."

There was stunned silence as they registered what Zoro said.

Luffy was surprised, Zoro would normally follow his order without a doubt. "What are you saying Zoro? It's an adventure!"

Zoro slammed his sheathed sword into the floor and growled, "Luffy! If you want to go on an adventure that will kill your nakama, leave me out of this!"

Luffy reeled back as if the words were physical blows.

Zoro continued, "Look at us! You might be fine with fighting Crocodile but what about the others? Nami and Nojiko aren't suited for combat. Usopp had a broken leg. We can't protect them all the time."

There was so much tension in the air, Vivi was afraid to speak. She felt horrible knowing that she was the cause of the fighting.

Luffy folded his arms together, "We are all going to Arabasta. However, Usopp, Nami, and Nojiko won't be doing any fighting. Sanji, you're going to be staying with them to protect them. Zoro is right, you guys need more training." He turned to Igaram, "So where is Arabasta really?"

Igaram pulled out a hourglass like log post. "As you know, islands are un-mappable on the Grand Line and you can only find them by using a log post but this one is special! It's a Eternal Log post that had memorized the frequency of Arabasta and will only point you in that direction!"

Luffy picked it up, turning it over in his hand. "This is cool but I don't like the idea of just using this, I mean-", he trailed off when he realized his hand was glowing. "What the-"

His hand erupted into a mini-fireball, turning the Eternal Logpost into molten slag and cinders.

"Luffy!"

Luffy shook his hand rapidly, "I'm not hurt, what the hell happened?"

A musical voice answered for him, "Ohh. It looks like you had a little trouble with your Log Post, Do you need mine?" As distracted as they were by the impromptu explosion, none of them had noticed the lady sneaking up on them.

Vivi readied her peacock slashers, "It's Miss All Sunday, She's the Boss' partner! I only discovered his identity because I followed her."

Miss All Sunday chuckled, "I let you follow me. Now put those weapons down." Everyone found their weapons smacked out of their hands.

"Devil Fruit!"

Luffy walked up to Miss All Sunday, "Hey, What did you do to my hand?"

Luffy steeled his features and reigned the desire to sweep his eyes across her body. Miss All Sunday was wearing a skimpy cowgirl outfit consisting of a purple cleavage-exposing top and matching miniskirt, paired with a white cowboy hat and white high-heeled boots. The skirt did nothing to hide those long legs of hers, they just went on and on and on...

Nico Robin closed the distance between them, her dark eyes streaked with blue, peering into his dark brown orbs. "I didn't do anything to your hand, I'm merely here to offer you an Eternal Log Post to Arabasta."

Vivi was naturally distrustful, "Why would you be helping us? You're the Vice-President of Baroque Work."

She smiled mysteriously, "Who knows, maybe your goals are my goals." She turned back to Luffy and presented a new log post to Arabasta to him.

Luffy shuffled his hands into his side pockets and scuffed the floor with his heel. He smiled cheekily at her, "Thank you my fair lady but I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline. No one can decide my path for me, I'll manage my way to Arabasta with my own power."

Miss All Sunday smiled a genuine smile, it is hard to find men with such valor and integrity these days. "Okay Luffy-san, Just a warning, the next island you're due for is _Little Garden. _You might die before you even get to see Crocodile's face much lest Arabasta."

Luffy gave her a charming smile, "Don't worry, I'll see you at Arabasta."

Miss All Sunday left with an amused smile on her face, walking with an extra sway on her hips and Luffy whistled quietly at the little display.

Sanji's cigarette nearly lit the rug on fire from where it dropped from his open mouth. "W-What the hell was that Luffy! I didn't even get a chance to hit on her and you go all Mr. Gigolo on her."

Usopp hobbled over, "Yeah Luffy, you were totally laying the moves on her. What's up with that bro?"

Luffy gave them all a look that made them feel retarded for not knowing, "It's one of the rules of the trade, If you're facing a hot girl who might be your enemy, be nice to her and make her think you like her. Nothing bad will ever come out of it if you flirt and banter with her, only good things."

Sanji turned to Usopp and said with dry humor, "You know, that actually does make sense in a retarded way, maybe I'm getting L.I.S too."

"Alright, we're raiding the rest of the provisions in this town and setting off. Nami, is the Log Post set to the next Island?"

Nami checked. "Yes. We have it set to Little Garden."

"Let's go to the next adventure! Who knew we would meet a real Princess on our first Island. Croco-boy better get ready because I'm going to send him flying!"

* * *

A/N: First of all, I'm sure you've noticed the changes in my update rates. It went from weekly updates to monthly updates to a three month wait.

My muse had died and I needed to find one to replace it. Luckily for you guys, I found a new Muse Mascot name Princess Shirahoshi, and the updates will be back on track, hopefully bi-monthly.

A lot of the credit goes to Kenchi618 for his awesome stories and update speed. I'm going to have to remember to go back and add a review for each chapter, lord knows he deserves it. If you haven't already checked out his awesome stories, go now!

And to those of you who want to complain about my writing, go ahead and add to my review count. Most of the time, I roll out of bed after a two hour nap, smash the keyboards a bit, hit the gym to workout, come back and type a few more lines.

So I decided to write a 11K word chapter without the SBS/Omake. You can still ask questions and I will do review shoutouts but the Omakes are getting boring for me and won't be missed.

Now onto my Naruto story.

I hope I get enough inspiration to finish it

Viking Out~


End file.
